A man stole a parked Honda Accord with a 5-year-old boy still inside in South Richmond Hill on Tuesday morning, then let the child out blocks from where the car was taken, according to police. The boy was found unharmed and taken to a local hospital in stable condition.
The NYPD said the suspect entered a parked Honda Accord without permission around 10 a.m. Tuesday in front of 94-31 118th Street and drove off with the child in the backseat, as reported by PIX11. The suspect let the boy out near 131st Street and 101st Avenue, and EMS responded to the scene and transported the child to the hospital. Police are asking anyone with information to come forward.
The theft site falls within the jurisdiction of the NYPD's 102nd Precinct, which covers South Richmond Hill along with Kew Gardens and Woodhaven, according to the NYPD. The spot where the boy was dropped off sits just blocks from where a strikingly similar case unfolded two years earlier in the same neighborhood.
A Familiar Scene in the Same Queens Blocks
In November 2024, a 4-year-old girl was riding in the backseat of a red Acura sedan stolen near 101st Avenue and 131st Street in South Richmond Hill before officers located both the car and the child unharmed nearby, per FOX 5 New York. Hoodline previously reported on that case in a story headlined Child Safe After Car Stolen with Her Inside in Queens, Prompt Police Action Reunites 4-Year-Old with Mother. The overlap in location, outcome, and age of the children involved underscores how often this type of crime plays out the same way in central Queens.
It isn't the only prior incident in the area, either. In July 2021, an attempted kidnapping of a 5-year-old occurred on Hillside Avenue in neighboring Richmond Hill, when a suspect shoved the child into a vehicle before family members and bystanders intervened, according to FOX 5 New York. One suspect was arrested shortly after that attempt. And in April 2022, Queens prosecutors charged a caregiver with reckless endangerment after she left a 4-month-old infant unattended in a running car that was later stolen outside a shop on Hollis Avenue, per CBS News; that vehicle was abandoned blocks away with the infant uninjured.
A Pattern Beyond New York
These cases reflect a national pattern of car thieves taking idling or unattended vehicles without realizing a child is inside, then abandoning the child shortly after. According to data compiled by the advocacy group Kids and Car Safety, more than 260 children across the United States were inside vehicles that were stolen or carjacked while unattended in 2022 alone. Hoodline detailed similar national statistics in a September report on a toddler left in a stolen SUV in Mount Vernon.
New York law adds another layer to these incidents. Under New York Vehicle and Traffic Law Section 1210(a), drivers are barred from leaving a vehicle standing unattended on a public street without stopping the engine, locking the ignition, and removing the key, according to FindLaw.
Charging Decisions Still Unclear
Whether the suspect in Tuesday's case faces anything beyond grand larceny auto charges remains an open question. New York Penal Law Section 135.20 classifies Second-Degree Kidnapping as a Class B felony carrying up to 25 years in prison, a far steeper charge than auto theft alone.
Under the New York State AMBER Alert Plan, emergency broadcasts are activated only when law enforcement confirms a child under 18 has been abducted and faces imminent danger of serious physical harm or death, according to the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services.
Anyone with information on Tuesday's theft is asked to contact NYPD Crime Stoppers by phone at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), by text by texting 274637 (CRIMES) and entering TIP577, or online at crimestoppers.nypdonline.org. Spanish-speaking callers can submit tips at 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).
