Mother jumps on car bonnet as thief drives off with her kids inside

A man who stole a car in San Bernardino, Calif., late Sunday night with two small children in the back seat was followed and ultimately arrested because of the vigilance of three good Samaritans, police said.

San Bernardino police Lt. Rich Lawhead said, at around 11:30pm late Sunday night, a mother who had her 2 young children strapped in their car seats in the back of the vehicle, ran into a convenience store to buy them some drinks. The woman left her car running, the air conditioner on and parked directly in front of the market window so she could see the car from inside the store.

Unknown to her, a local transient, 21 year old Steven Young, was watching her from outside. As soon as the mother took her eyes off the car for a minute, Young jumped into the vehicle and began to reverse the car. The mother who was leaving the store just as the gray sedan was backing up, jumped on the bonnet of the car to try and stop the driver from fleeing with her children in it.

Young allegedly swerved left and right until the mother was shaken off, then he sped off with the car with the children in it, police said.

But two people in another car in the parking who saw the entire scene, gave chase to the car and followed Young, who crashed about two miles away when the car ran up onto a curb, Lawhead said.

Two tires were popped and Young ran off.

The children were uninjured and the two people who followed stayed at the scene until the Police arrived.

A third Samaritan who was walking in the area saw Young running away from the scene and pointed out where he was hiding to the responding police officers.

Young was found by a police dog hiding in a garage, was arrested and jailed on suspicion of kidnapping and carjacking officials said.

The mother, who couldn’t afford a tow truck, was able to make it home with her kids after an officer helped her change her tires, police said.

Source: Los Angeles Times