We all are guilty of leaving the car running while we grab take-out real quick- or have at least considered it!
Yeah, we know someone could easily jump right in and leave us eating lo mein on the curb alone, but who wants to park and turn the engine off when you skipped lunch and are hungry.
Well, what if the worst-case scenario happened to you and you had more than just your cell phone sitting in the seat?
In Beaverton, Oregon a mother went to the grocery store to pick up a few items for the weekend.
When she came back out, the car was missing.
Normal feelings would be shock, disbelief, and anger – but this mom felt panic and fear.
Why?
Because she had left the car running with the doors unlocked, and her 4-year-old child in the back seat!
You aren’t the only one who is dumbfounded at this mother’s lack of parental responsibility.
The car thief returned to the grocery store after realizing there was a child in the backseat to scold the mother for her poor parenting!
Beaverton police spokesman, Matt Henderson, told The Oregonian:
“He actually lectured the mother for leaving the child in the car and threatened to call the police on her.”
Did the thief see the error in his ways?
Nope!
He ordered the mother to take her child and then drove off in the stolen vehicle, reports The New York Post.
Vehicle or no vehicle, the child’s mother and the police were grateful the thief had the “decency” to return the child, Henderson stated.
Unfortunately, this is not at all a rare occurrence.
Parents leave their children in running vehicles all the time to “grab something real quick”, thinking that the hassle of taking kids into a store or waking them up from their nap is worth the risk of abduction.
Similarly, there was a mother who left her two sleeping babies in the back of a car with the engine running to grab take-out in Frankford, Philadelphia when a man hopped in and drove off.
Miraculously, the suspect was apprehended five-minutes down the road after the police were called as soon as the mother had figured out what had happened, reports ABC News.
Chief Inspector Scott Small of the Philadelphia Police Department said in a statement:
“At this we don’t believe that the driver knew the children were in the backseat.”
Could you imagine the moment you realize someone had taken your children because you wanted to save five minutes or not be inconvenienced by your toddler’s tantrums in the candy aisle?
I’m sure that was the last time these parents thought to leave their children in a running vehicle alone.
And let’s hope the next car thief is as considerate as the one in Oregon, and returns any children left in the backseat before finishing their joy ride.
