A car theft in Brooklyn took a serious turn today when a man drove off with a 2-year-old child accidentally caught in the incident. According to ABC7 New York, the vehicle was taken around 10:40 a.m. from 480 Sutter Ave. in Brownsville while the toddler's parent was in a deli. The NYPD responded to the incident promptly after a 911 call was placed.
In less than twenty minutes, the police apprehended 34-year-old Maurice Stephens, identified standing in front of the car before taking it, caught just short of a mile away at Liberty Avenue and Wyona Street. As relayed by witness Miguel Rivera in an interview obtained by ABC7 New York, "The cops ran up to him with the guns drawn, and they threw him, and they put him on the floor, and they caught them. And everything happened so fast." Reflecting on the situation involving the child, Rivera expressed shock, saying, "Are you kidding me? My, my, everything. Everything around me. Just frozen. I mean, that's terrible. That's terrible."
The child is now safe after the ordeal and was assessed by EMS at the 75th Precinct. While the motive behind the theft is still unknown, Stephens faces charges including grand larceny in the fourth degree, second-degree kidnapping, criminal possession of stolen property, and endangering the welfare of a child. These details come from the reporting of witnesses and the charges have been outlined by ABC7 New York.
Meanwhile, a statement given to PIX11 News by the NYPD did not reveal the suspect's potential motives for the theft, nor provided further details regarding the child's condition after the incident.
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