A car thief apparently didn’t realize a child was in the back seat of the SUV he boosted. When he realized it, he drove back to the mother, gave her an earful for leaving her child behind, and then drove off with her car. Again.
The car thief with a conscience even threatened to call the police on her.
Beaverton, Oregon Police public information officer Matt Henderson said the carjacking happened on Saturday morning at 9:10 in a parking lot of Basics Meat Market in Beaverton. The woman parked her SUV within 15 feet of the store’s entrance, went inside “for a few minutes” to buy milk and some meat. She inexplicably left the engine running and the doors unlocked with her 4-year old child in the backseat.
Henderson called it “a crime of opportunity.”
Upon realizing he had an unexpected passenger, the thief made a U-turn, returned to the store parking lot, ordered her to take the kid out of the booster seat behind him, berated the mother for her careless act and then drove off with the stolen car.
Henderson explained “What she did was not a crime...but she left the car running, so take that extra step, take the keys with you...Obviously, we're thankful he brought the little one back and had the decency to do that."