People are shocked after a car was stolen in north Portland, Oregon with two young children in the backseat. While that’s always a frightening situation, this story is different from most because the kids jumped from that vehicle, realizing the danger they were in. It’s the kind of thing that haunts every parent’s worst nightmares.
Watch a kidnapping suspect driving a hooptie try fighting pursuing police.
Thankfully, the children are safe and back with their father, who was pretty shook up by the whole ordeal. Plus, the car thief has been caught. So everything turned out far better than in many other cases. We just hope the two kids aren’t haunted by the ordeal in the long run.
The father had stopped at a place in north Portland to pick up his 4-year-old daughter from preschool had just picked up his two sons, ages 9 and 11, from their school. He briefly left the vehicle and upon coming back outside saw a woman outside it. Before he could reach the car, that woman jumped in and sped off, the father holding onto the door, he revealed in an interview with KPTV.
Thankfully a police officer was driving down the road right after the incident and the father was able to flag him down. Sadly, the man’s phone was inside the vehicle and the thief threw it out, plus there was no tracker in the car, so police had no idea where she’d gone.
About 10 minutes after the vehicle was stolen by the woman, the two little boys did a very brave thing, jumping out when the car came to a stop at a light. They then flagged down another driver, who in turn called 911. The father said those were the “longest 10 minutes I felt in my life.”
Police spotted the stolen vehicle and a chase ensued. They eventually cornered the suspect and arrested her but haven’t released her name. We hope she was just after the vehicle and didn’t even realize the kids were inside.
We also don’t know if the father left the car running or the keys inside. It’s possible he didn’t and had the keys on him but like most people doesn’t use a Faraday pouch to block the fob signal, which allowed the woman to take off with him standing outside the vehicle. This story should teach everyone to be more careful, especially when your kids or other loved ones are in the car.
Image via Portland Police Bureau
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