Man charged after allegedly stealing car with child inside
The man has been charged with multiple offences after allegedly jumping into the car while the child’s father spoke to another driver.
A man has been charged with child stealing and other offences after a car was taken with a two-year-old still strapped into the backseat in Melbourne’s southeast.
At about 3.25pm on Monday, two-year-old Mohammed’s father, Massoud Massoud, pulled over the family car, a black Kia Carnival, on Cleeland St in Dandenong.
He had been involved in a road dispute and stepped outside of the vehicle to talk to another driver.
CCTV footage obtained by 9News showed a man hop into the driver’s seat and made off with the vehicle and child.
Detective Acting Senior Sergeant Dean Hayes said the ordeal had left Mohammed’s father “hysterical”, who briefly gave chase to the vehicle on foot.
Mr Massoud was then assisted by the driver who he had been arguing with, who had also seen what had happened.
Police say he hopped into the other driver’s car and they gave chase until they lost sight of the vehicle.
“He was very concerned and it was difficult to get some information out of him at the start, as you can appreciate,” Senior Sergeant Hayes said.
About an hour after his abduction, the two-year-old was found wandering the aisles at a supermarket on the Burwood Highway in Ferntree Gully, having been dumped by the thief, according to police.
Concerned bystanders notified police after spotting the boy by himself.
He did not suffer any injuries during the incident.
The black Kia Carnival with Victorian registration 1WU5QT was located abandoned in Coldstream at around 7pm on Monday by a passer-by.
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This led to the arrest of a 24-year-old man in Dandenong at about 3pm on Tuesday.
He has since been charged with child stealing, theft of a motor vehicle, unlicensed driving, and committing an indictable offence while on bail.
He appeared before Melbourne Magistrates’ Court yesterday evening.
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