Four children have been reunited with their mother after the car they were inside was stolen from a laundromat, then crashed in Philadelphia's Oxford Circle neighborhood on Thursday night, police said.

Authorities said the car was parked with the engine running outside King Laundromat on the 6700 block of Castor Avenue with a 2-month-old, 2-year-old, 10-year-old, and 13-year-old inside while their mother was doing laundry.

According to Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small, a young man took the car in what they believe to be a crime of opportunity, drove it about a half mile to the intersection of Castor Avenue and Comly Street, then sideswiped a parked vehicle. 

That is when police believe the driver noticed the children in the car, then got out and fled.

"The good news is that all four children... even after the auto accident, they were all fine and they were reunited with their mother," Small said.

Witnesses who saw the accident told police the person who stole the car looked to be 13 or 14 years old, dressed in all dark-colored clothing, and he ran westbound on Comly Street from Castor Avenue.

Police said the mother and the older children in the car were taken to Philadelphia Police Department Special Victims Unit as witnesses. They are still looking for the person who stole the car.