Car thief who discovered toddler in the backseat of SUV he stole drives back to child’s mom and threatens to call the cops on HER – before taking off again – without the kid
- Crystal Leary stopped off at a grocery store in Beaverton, Oregon, on Saturday night and left her 4-year-old son in her unlocked SUV with engine running
- Mother was gone for just a few minutes before a man stole the SUV and drove off, before realizing there was a child in the backseat
- Thief returned to the grocery store, yelled at the mother and threatened to call the police on her, before ordering the woman to take her son out of backseat
- Car thief sped away in the stolen SU, but ditched it in Portland a short time later
- Beaverton police defended the mother, but noted she should not have left engine running and doors unlocked
A car thief stole an SUV from the parking lot of an Oregon grocery store over the weekend, only to discover a toddler in the backseat, which prompted him to return to the scene of the crime to berate the boy’s mother for leaving him in the vehicle.
The bizarre incident took place in Beaverton at around 9pm on Saturday.
According to local police, Crystal Leary had left her four-year-old son in the back on her silver Honda Pilot with the engine running so that she could pick up milk and meat at Basics Meat Market in the 11900 block of Southwest Canyon Road.
Crystal Leary stopped off at Basics Meat Market in Beaverton, Oregon (pictured), on Saturday night and left her 4-year-old son in her unlocked SUV with the engine running
The mother was gone for just a few minutes before a man got in the SUV and drove off, only to return moments later when he realized there was a child in the backseat. The car thief chided the mom and threatened to call the police on her for leaving her son alone
Just a few minutes into Leary’s shopping trip, a stranger got into her SUV and sped away, reported KGW8.
Leary was alerted to what happened by a store employee and run outside to watch the thief driving away in her Honda with her son still inside.
Moments later, the Honda made a U-turned and returned, and the brazen thief then proceeded to yell at Leary for leaving her child unattended.
The criminal threatened to call the police on the mother before ordering her to remove her child from the backseat and taking off again. The four-year-old was unharmed.
The Beaverton Police Department has come to Leary’s defense, saying that the child in the SUV parked just 15 feet away from the store was never out of her sight or earshot, stressing that there was no criminality in her actions.
Officer Matt Henderson did point out to OregonLive.com that Leary made a critical error by leaving the engine running and the doors unlocked.
Leary’s stolen silver Honda Pilot, similar to the one pictured above, was later found abandoned in Portland
‘As moms we get really busy and we think we’re just running in for a second and this is just a perfect example of just letting our guards down and how terribly it could have ended,’ Leary told in a phone interview with KPTV. ‘I’m just thankful that he’s OK and it was so stupid and I’ll never do that again, but it’s that split-second decision that could just change everything.’
The stolen Honda Pilot was found abandoned in Portland just hours after the incident.
Police are still looking for the thief, who is described as a while man in his 20s or 30s, with dark-brown, braided hair.
Anyone with information on the suspect is being asked to call Beaverton police at 503-629-0111.