Small children in the car may not deter or stop a thief. In this case, the result was a theft with kidnapping and eventual crash after pursuit by police and a news helicopter (suspect ran away and attempted to steal another car but was eventually arrested by police). The children and two people in a car that was crashed into were taken to the hospital.
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Sad when kids are left in the car. Of course, someone could have their car stolen as they are there and it can’t be avoided. But when you read about those who die from being in the heat all day - very sad.
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In my state, this is against the law. If you see kids alone in a car in a parking lot or wherever…call the police.
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I’ve read many articles about this situation, anyone with small children should. Leaving small children in the car to go into a store is wrong in the majority of cases, but the phenomenon of forgetting kids in the car seat has too many commonalities to assume neglect.
I had a friends many, many years ago that had her car stolen while she was pumping gas. Her toddler was in their carseat in the back. All ended well, as I think the thief hadn’t realized a child was in the car, so abandoned the car.
Of course no one expects this to happen. Since then, I always took my keys out of my car and locked while I gassed the car. If I had kids in the car, I did roll their windows down if the weather was warm, but my keys were on my person.
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I once locked infant S in back seat of car when at gas station. They tried to open the door but only succeeded in breaking a lock. I called H from work and he came to rescue — from his workplace. After that, I left a spare key at my office as well and ALWAYS rolled down driver’s window at gas stations.
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I see people already commented on children car while pumping gas and the driver is RIGHT THERE and still the car is stolen. Now with keys that just have to be in the vicinity of the car, does it matter if you have the keys in your pocket? I’d think the car would start.
There have also been cases where the thief steals the car while at an intersection and just pulls the driver out of a car. I saw one where the mother was screaming ‘My child is in the back’ and hung onto the car until she fell off. My current car locks once I start moving, but many prior cars didn’t and I never locked the car if I was in it.
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So many crazy things happening these days!
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My husband just watched the footage from the pursuit on YouTube. I don’t think I will be sleeping well tonight. Even though the kids are going to be ok and the suspect is in custody.