Suspect Steals Vehicle With 2-Year-Old in Backseat Before Abandoning Both: NYPD

Police are searching for the individual they say stole a vehicle left running in the Bronx with a toddler in the backseat — eventually abandoning both.

According to the NYPD, officers received a report Monday that at around 5:30 p.m. on Bronxwood Avenue, a 43-year-old man briefly exited his 2020 Toyota Highlander while it was still running.

During the same time the man exited the vehicle, an unknown individual allegedly exited the rear passenger seat of a gold 2018 Honda Accord and entered the man’s vehicle, driving off with not only the vehicle, but the man’s 2-year-old granddaughter who was in the rear seat.

The individual abandoned the vehicle and toddler near the intersection of Edson Avenue and East Gun Hill Road and fled, police said.

The 2-year-old was unharmed, but was taken to NYC Health and Hospitals/Jacobi for a medical evaluation.

Anyone with information in regard to this incident is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).