WASHINGTON — An Amber Alert for a missing 2-year-old boy in D.C. has been canceled. Police say the boy was inside a car when it was stolen Wednesday. The boy and the car have been found. The boy is unharmed, according to police.
The black Toyota Highlander was stolen in the parking lot of 7-Eleven on the 4900 block of Nannie Helen Burroughs Avenue in Northeast D.C., police said in a tweet Wednesday. It happened around 6 a.m. Police say the car was unattended and running when it was stolen. Soon after DC Police tweeted out the initial information, an Amber Alert was issued for the child and the car.
Surveillance video from inside this 7-Eleven shows how in less than two minutes from the moment the driver parks her SUV, her car is stolen with her two-year-old son in the back seat.
At 6:07 a.m., the toddler's mother is seen backing into a parking spot near the entrance of the store and she walks in. Not even a minute goes by, and what appears to be two men in white t-shirts peek into the convenience store. Seconds later, they are seen walking around the parked cars outside. By 6:09 a.m. a person jumps in the SUV and takes off.
"There are people that actually hang around places like convenience stores and gas stations and restaurants hoping that someone will hop right in and they can take off with their car. It's a crime of opportunity," says Janette Fennell Founder of Kids and Car Safety.
Just a few minutes after issuing the Amber Alert, DC Police reported the boy had been found safe in the 1200 block of 49th Street Northeast.
Neighbors say the car was abandoned behind an apartment complex with the child inside.
Police are still searching for the person who stole the car. They released surveillance photos of the wanted man on Wednesday morning. He is wanted for kidnapping and theft.
Fennell says this is the fourth child that has been kidnapped during a car theft in the District this year according to her organization. She says these incidents are not only preventable but also traumatic. "They either pull over and take off and again the child is left alone in the vehicle, or they decide they need the car and they take the child out and leave him somewhere," Fennell added.
Anyone who can identify this individual or has knowledge of this incident should take no action but call police at (202) 727-9099 or text your tip to the Department's TEXT TIP LINE at 50411.
According to DC Police crime data, motor vehicle thefts are up 114% from this time last year.