BOSTON (WHDH) - Boston police are asking for the public’s help as they search for a man accused of kidnapping an 11-year-old girl while stealing a car outside of a church in Roxbury Saturday night.
Boston police said the vehicle was stolen at approximately 9:15 p.m. in the area of Crawford Street and Warren Street in Roxbury. The child was in the backseat of the SUV when the suspect took off.
The girl’s aunt told 7NEWS that her family was preparing for a 50th birthday party at the time. She said the girl’s mother parked in front of the church to run around the corner and pick up a cake from her sister’s house, briefly leaving her daughter in the car.
The car was found about a mile-and-a-half away on a dead-end street in Dorchester. According to a police report, the man who stole the car released the child unharmed after realizing he had not taken an empty car. The report said the man overheard the girl on the phone with her father in the backseat of her mother’s rented SUV.
A resident’s home surveillance camera captured the SUV come to a stop, then the man take off toward Ronan Park. The girl then appears on the video, running to a neighbor’s home for help.
“It was the first time that I saw basically somebody getting kidnapped, then getting dropped off in front of my house,” said Natalie Caban, whose surveillance video caught part of the incident. “She was okay but she was shaken up, like, she was very nervous, and I’m not sure if she was crying because it was dark. All the neighbors called the police, and they responded pretty quick…From what I saw on the camera that happened – he left, and within a few seconds all the police was here.”
Caban said the child was quickly reunited with her family, and she’s glad the girl was not hurt.
“I hope that the person does get caught because he did cause trauma to the girl,” Caban said. “It’s a scary situation.”
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