Child OK After Being Inside Stolen Car

A Los Angeles woman who stopped to get gasoline in Hawthorne on Monday had her car stolen--with her 2-year-old son inside, police said Wednesday.

The child was found unharmed, wandering in an alley in Inglewood a short while after the 4:40 p.m. theft, Hawthorne Detective David Ball said, and was returned to his mother, Celeste Tidmore, 24.

Authorities said two men driving in Tidmore’s car in Inglewood on Wednesday afternoon were arrested in connection with the theft after a short chase. Their names were not available. A third man got away, police said.

Ball said Tidmore had gotten out of her car to pay for gasoline at a service station at El Segundo and Crenshaw boulevards. When she turned around, Ball said, she saw a man jump in the vehicle and drive off. Tidmore had left her keys in the car, Ball said.