Police: Failed auto theft, assault at batting cage

An Albuquerque woman faces multiple charges after she tried to steal a truck with a child sitting inside, according to police.

The boy’s father left his work truck running as he stopped at Los Altos Batting Cage to “repair a baseball glove,” police said in a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court. His son, whose age is not included in the complaint, was still sitting in the back seat. Jennifer Stroth, 29, reportedly hopped in the truck and put it into gear.

The boy told police that he was able to jump out of the truck, and his father heard him yelling that someone was trying to take the vehicle. The father ran to the truck and confronted Stroth who “began kicking him in the face,” police said.

She got out of the truck, took a baseball bat from a child standing near the batting cages and threatened to hit the father with it, police said. When the father took the bat from her, Stroth ran away. An officer found Stroth nearby. She is facing charges including child endangerment, taking a motor vehicle and aggravated assault.