Child in Stolen Car Is Returned Safely

A 2-year-old Granada Hills boy was returned safely to his father Sunday evening about an hour after a man jumped into the father’s car, parked outside a convenience store, and sped off with the baby in the back seat, Los Angeles police said.

Milan Choroome was still strapped in his car seat when the vehicle was found on Owensmouth Avenue near Nordhoff Street in Chatsworth, Officer Craig Ledsworth said Sunday. The car was spotted by the crew of a police helicopter about 7 p.m., about an hour after the father, Mehdi Choroome, had reported it stolen, Ledsworth said.

Police said the car was taken after the father went inside the store at Devonshire Street and Topanga Canyon Boulevard in Chatsworth to buy cigarettes. Ledsworth speculated that the thief did not know that the boy was inside when he got into the car.