Man steals car with toddler inside at Woolworths in Melbourne
- ‘Opportunistic’ thief sped off with toddler in car
- Boy found at a Woolworths 16km away
- Stolen black Kia Carnival still missing
The manhunt continues for a thief who stole a car and drove off with a toddler in the backseat.
A frantic dad was reunited with his little boy found wandering around Woolworths at Ferntree Gully in Melbourne‘s south-east on Monday afternoon, 16km from where the car was stolen.
The man had pulled over his black Kia Carnival in Cleeland Street in Dandenong around 3.25pm to speak to the driver of another vehicle following a crash.
An ‘opportunistic’ thief jumped into the Kia and sped off with the owner’s son still in the backseat.
The toddler was dumped 16km away at Woolworths in Ferntree Gully, where he was found wandering the aisles
The incident sparked massive an hour long police search involving multiple resources.
‘Once police were notified, we had multiple units saturating the area and searching, including the airwing, dog squad, we had units all over the place searching for the vehicle,’ Detective Acting Senior Sergeant Dean Hayes told reporters.
He added the father was ‘hysterical’ when he first contacted police.
‘He was very concerned and it was difficult to get information out of him to start with, as you can appreciate,’ Det Hayes said.
The unharmed but distressed boy was abandoned at Woolworths and was found wandering the aisles by shoppers.
The stolen car and abduction sparked a frantic hour long search by police (pictured where the boy was found)
‘Police attended there and confirmed that was the toddler that we were looking for and he’s been reunited with his father,’ Det Hayes said.
‘Thankfully it all ended well. The reunion was emotional.’
The black Kia Carnival with the registration the 1WU5QT remains missing.
Anyone with information is urged to call Crime Stoppers.
The black Kia Carnival with the registration 1WU5QT is still missing
