Man accused of stealing car with 9-year-old inside faces kidnapping charge in Georgia

A Georgia man faces kidnapping charges after being accused of trying to steal a car while the owner’s child was still inside, police said.

Atlanta police responded to calls about the incident at around 8:45 a.m. on April 4, according to a news release from the Atlanta Police Department. The woman who called 911 said she got out of her car in the parking lot of a Goodwill location, where a man jumped into her still-running vehicle. Then, the man drove away with the woman’s 9-year-old child in the back seat, the news release said.

Officers from the Atlanta Police Department, Georgia State Police, Fulton County Sheriff’s Office and Fulton County Police Department saturated the area, trying to locate the stolen car. Georgia State Police officers found the vehicle and immobilized it, preventing the driver from escaping, the release said.

The driver was taken into police custody, and the child was reunited with his mother, the release said. The man now faces charges of kidnapping, cruelty toward children, and theft by taking, the release said.

The child was taken to a local hospital for evaluation, but was unharmed, Atlanta Police Department Capt. Felicia Claxton told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

This story was originally published April 5, 2022 at 1:33 PM with the headline "Man accused of stealing car with 9-year-old inside faces kidnapping charge in Georgia."