Police Find Stolen Car With 2-Year-Old Boy Inside
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Police are looking for a man they say thought was stealing a car but ended up kidnapping a child.
It happened around 11:30 p.m. Wednesday after the child's father, Roland Buckner, stepped out of his running car at a north Minneapolis gas station.
Police found the abandoned car with the child in it, but the thief is still on the run.
"I'm just glad to have [my son] back," Buckner said.
Police say he left his car running outside the Old Colony gas station on Washington Street near 17th Avenue North to talk to an acquaintance. He also left his door unlocked and his son in the back seat.
"Someone got into his car and sped away," said Cmdr. Bruce Folkens with the Minneapolis Police Department.
He added that he doesn't think the thief new the baby was in the car.
"I didn't know what to do," Buckner said, recalling the incident. "I was in shock."
The acquaintance Buckner was talking to followed the thief. Police also used to technology to ping Buckner's cellphone, which was left in the car.
Not long after, the car was found abandoned on the 2700 block of Colfax Avenue North. The baby was not harmed.
"He was sleeping," Buckner said. "He didn't see anything."
The father also said he now understands the importance of keeping his son in sight.
"It could have went a lot different," Buckner said. "I'm just thankful the Minneapolis Police Department found my son."
