A terrifying ordeal for a mother and her 5-year-old daughter after Fort Worth police said a man stole their SUV with the child still inside.
Officers in the South Patrol Division were called to the area of Town Center Service Road and West Seminary Drive around 6:15 p.m. Sunday for a report of a possible kidnapping.
Police said a mother was loading groceries in the back of her running SUV while her 5-year-old daughter sat inside.
When she went to return the shopping cart, a man jumped into the vehicle and took off.
“This wasn’t like a one-minute two-minute timeline that passed by; this was seconds. This was somebody looking for an opportunity to commit a crime,” said Public Information Officer Buddy Calzada with the Fort Worth Police Department.
Police said the shopping center’s surveillance cameras captured the heart-stopping moments, including the thief stopping the car at the parking lot entrance and letting the child out.
Paramedics checked out the little girl and her mother. Both were physically unharmed.
The non-profit Kids and Car Safety documents these incidents. This year, they report 51 children have been taken in cars that were stolen after being left alone inside. In 2024, they documented 120 children taken while left alone in vehicles. Some of those cases ended tragically.
The safety advocacy group encourages parents to take children with them when returning the shopping cart.
Fort Worth police said the incident underscores just how quickly one can become a victim.
“This mother was doing everything right, putting the buggy away, keeping the child cool in the vehicle, and it was just this split second that this crime of opportunity took place,” said Calzada.
Police are still searching for the family’s stolen silver Ford Explorer with license plate VHS3074. It was last spotted in Arlington.