Atlanta Mom Leaves Car Running to Deliver Instacart Order, Returns to Find Car Stolen But Her 2yo Toddler Was in the Back
An Instacart delivery in Atlanta, Georgia, took a dramatic turn for the driver after her car was stolen with her two-year-old daughter inside. In 911 audio shared by police, the panicked mother can be heard frantically explaining to the operator what happened.
The incident occurred around 4:36 P.M. on Thursday, July 30, reports Fox News. Police stated that the mother had left the vehicle running while she delivered an Instacart order; the toddler had been left in the backseat while she was inside. When the mother came back out, she realized that her car had been stolen along with her child.
In the audio recording, which was shared online, the desperate mother can be heard saying, “Someone just stole my car, and it has my 2-year-old daughter in it.” The dispatcher asks the caller, “You said your daughter was inside the vehicle?” to which the mother explains, “Yes, my 2-year-old daughter was in the backseat. I was dropping off an Instacart order, and I came back outside, and my car is gone. My daughter was inside.”
The search for the missing toddler
The search for the missing child began immediately, with officers from the Auto Crimes Enforcement Unit trying to find the vehicle by using the city’s license plate readers. The missing car, suspect, and kidnapped child were all located within 15 minutes, according to police.
Body camera footage showed the dramatic moment officers surrounded the vehicle and ordered the suspect to get out before arresting him. The suspect, who was later named as 21-year-old Saleem Martin, was taken into custody, and officers found the crying child who was still in the back of the vehicle. An officer can be heard over the radio saying, “The child is okay. The child’s okay.”
Police confirmed that the toddler was unharmed and had been reunited with her parents. However, an arrest warrant stated that the mother later noticed the bottom of her daughter’s dress was undone. The warrant alleges that, when asked about the unbuttoned dress, the child told her mother, “the man did it,” supposedly referring to Martin.
It is also alleged that Martin had both hands on the toddler when police found him, and he was apparently trying to hide between the seats. The Atlanta Police Department later brought the Special Victims Unit into the investigation.
The suspect says they weren’t aware of the child at first
Martin told officers that he had jumped in the vehicle as he was trying to get to New Jersey and he hadn’t realized that there was a child in the back. He also claimed that he had been touching the child as he was trying to get her to calm down.
The suspected kidnapper/car thief has since been charged with multiple crimes; these are: kidnapping, theft by taking, simple battery, entering an automobile, cruelty to children, and criminal attempt to commit a felony as per Fox News.
(Featured image: NBC News, YouTube, Atlanta Police Department)
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