Local News in Brief : Thief Abandons Stolen Car With 18-Month-Old Girl Inside
A thief took a Toyota Celica from a Sun Valley shopping plaza Tuesday but later abandoned it after noticing that there was a passenger in the back seat, a sleeping 18-month-old girl, Los Angeles police said.
Detective Lou Berman said the car and the baby, Tayra Aparicio, were recovered in good condition about two hours after they were reported missing from a shopping plaza in the 8300 block of San Fernando Road.
The child’s mother, Francisca Aparicio, 36, of Cypress, left her daughter sleeping in the back of the car, with the keys in the ignition, and went into a store to make a quick purchase, Berman said.
Police were searching for the car and the child when they received a call that an unattended baby was crying in a yellow 1978 Toyota Celica in the 9700 block of Glenoaks Boulevard. Police returned the baby and the car to Aparicio.
Meanwhile, police are searching for a suspect, who detectives believe was not a kidnaper but a car thief who did not see the infant at first.
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