A mother and her daughter have been reunited after a harrowing ordeal today in which police say a woman stole another woman’s Mazda and drove it 13 miles — all with a six-month child sitting in the back.
The crime began at a 7-11 on Eastern Boulevard in Essex. Baltimore County police received a call for a reported car theft there with a baby inside. The child’s mother evidently had gone inside the store while her “acquaintance” was in the passenger seat of the Mazda 6, Officer Jennifer Peach said. The woman then allegedly jumped behind the driver’s seat and sped away.
Police notified their counterparts in surrounding areas, including Baltimore City, Anne Arundel and Howard counties, Peach said. Tracking the car by GPS, police learned it had traveled through the Fort McHenry Tunnel.
But it was a watchful Baltimore resident who apparently helped police trace it to the edge of South Baltimore. “My understanding is that the vehicle was seen by a citizen who called Baltimore City police,” Peach said.
Officers pulled the car over in the 300 block of S. Payson Street, about five blocks north of the train tracks bordering Carroll Park. They arrested the woman without incident. Mother and child have since been reunited, according to Peach.
A local resident captured a brief video of the arrest (via Fox45):
Peach said the yet-unnamed woman will be charged in Baltimore County. Exact charges haven’t been determined just yet.
