Baby found safe after stolen vehicle abandoned by thief
Police here are investigating two daylight car thefts — including one that left a mother and baby separated for about an hour after the child was left sleeping in a vehicle while the woman ran into a store.
Shortly before noon, police received a call from staff at the Groovy Mama shop in the Cathedral neighbourhood to report the woman’s car had been stolen while her one-year-old daughter slept inside.
Insp. Trevor Ewart said police, public transit, parking enforcement, cab companies and the media were all notified.
The police turned to social media to inform the public about the stolen vehicle.
He said the police were in the process of issuing an Amber Alert, but the child was found before it was released.
At 12:17 p.m. a 9-1-1 call came in from a pay phone near the Regent Park Shopping Centre from an unidentified male who said the SUV was parked near the Gathering Place on 3rd Avenue North.
Officers rushed to the scene and found the stolen SUV with the child still inside and unharmed. The vehicle was parked in a stall near a new apartment complex.
Shortly thereafter the child was reunited with her parents.
According to police, the vehicle had been left running but locked while the baby’s mother was in the store. No windows were smashed and the mother had the keys with her.
“I’m not here to lay blame on anyone,” he said. “At the end of the day, we have reunited the child with her mother and everyone is safe.”
Police remain hopeful someone from the public will come forward with information or that video surveillance in the area will shed light on the matter.
Ewart said police discourage people from leaving children unattended in a vehicle.
Anyone with any information is asked to call police at 306-7776500 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800222-8477 (TIPS).
The lunch-hour incident wasn’t the only brazen car theft in Regina on Thursday.
According to police, the first incident happened at 7:30 a.m. on Kleisinger Crescent when an 84-year-old woman who was scraping the windows on her vehicle was approached by two males.
The woman was pushed to the ground, sustaining minor injuries, and the two males left in her vehicle.
A short time later the vehicle was located on Stem Bay and Sangster Boulevard. Three males were taken into custody.