Suspect in theft of car with baby inside is jailed
The man arrested on charges of stealing a car with a baby inside and abandoning the child on the street in Upper Darby has been committed to the George W. Hill Correctional Facility, the Delaware County Prison.
Ahleem B. Beltran, 18, of the 4300 block of Tackwanna Street, Philadelphia, was arrested Thursday at his residence. He was committed to the prison in lieu of $250,000 bail after arraignment before District Judge Wilden H. Davis on charges of theft, kidnapping, recklessly endangering another person and related offenses.
Police gave this account: About 6:15 p.m. on Wednesday, police were called to the first block of South 69th Street. They met a woman who said she pulled up to a restaurant to pick up a food order, leaving the car running and her 11-month-old daughter in a car seat in the back seat of the vehicle.
In what was called a crime of opportunity, Beltran walked by, hopped in and took off. The mother came out and the car was gone.
Police broadcast a description of the vehicle.
At 7:02 p.m., officers were dispatched to the 100 block of Heather Road, about three-tenths of a mile away, for a baby found outside in a car seat on a walkway leading to a door of a residence. Police noted that the child had been outside in 46-degree weather for about an hour.
The baby was taken to Penn Presbyterian Hospital for observation, where she was examined and reunited with her mother, whose name was not provided.
Back in the first block of South 69th Street, police looked at surveillance video from one of their substations in the block then found a business in the block with video surveillance. The videos provided a look at the suspect at the store and then getting into the vehicle.
At some point, police figured out that it was Beltran they were looking for, called over to Philadelphia 15th District police and asked if an officer could go over to Beltran’s residence.
An officer was dispatched and the stolen car was located 30 feet from the residence.
The license plate had been taken off and the Philadelphia officer identified the car through the VIN. Beltran came out of the house and was taken into custody.
The timing of the arrest was not clear from the police paperwork. However, Beltran had the car long enough to have gotten a parking ticket.
About 9 p.m. on Thursday, police searched Beltran’s residence, found the plate, the ticket and the car’s owner’s manual.
On Friday, under police questioning, Beltran said he jumped in the car, started driving and heard a cry from the back seat. So he pulled over randomly, took the baby seat out with the child in it, covered her with a blanket, then drove home.