Baby aboard in carjacking at Dayton gas station

UPDATE@6:20 p.m.:

Police are searching for a thief who carjacked a vehicle at a Dayton gas station that had a 1-year-old child in the backseat.

A 19-year-old mother had left her keys in the ignition of the car as she went inside to pay for gas at the BP station on Salem Avenue on Sunday. While inside, a juvenile can be seen in surveillance video getting into the car and driving off. The distraught mother runs outside and after her stolen car and baby. A witness who called 911 told the dispatcher the woman repeatedly yelled, “my son is in that car,” as the thief drove away.

Another customer picked up the mother in his vehicle and followed the stolen car several blocks to Lexington Avenue. The thief then bailed out, yelling that he “didn’t know the child was in the car,” as he ran away, said Dayton police Lt. Eric Henderson.

“The child was unharmed, so this is just a good reminder to make sure you don’t leave your keys in the car with the car running at the gas station,” Henderson said. “The majority of our car thefts occur because keys are left in cars.”

In northwest Dayton, where the theft occurred, there have been 63 car thefts this year. For that area of Dayton, car thefts are down 20 percent. This is the first theft to occur where a child was inside the car at the time, Henderson said.

Shoppers at the BP station said they were glad other people stepped in to help the mom rescue her baby.

“She was scared and panicked and didn’t know what to do,” said Rhonda Patton, who lives down the street. “The person who helped her, I thank God for him because it could have been worse than it was.”

Henderson said the thief is still on the loose, and could face charges of grand theft auto and kidnapping. Anyone with information can contact police at (937) 222-7867.

First take:

A 911 call released this morning is a record of the moments following a carjacking in which a 1-year-old baby was in the backseat.

The incident happened Sunday at the BP, 500 Salem Avenue, according to Dayton police records.

A woman had just paid for her gas when her vehicle suddenly sped away from the pump.

The woman was screaming, “My son’s in that car,” according to the 911 caller.

The caller tells the dispatcher that three vehicles pursued the car, and the mother was with one of the motorists.

She was able to follow her vehicle and recover her child when the thief jumped out on Lexington Avenue.

Police continue to look for the perpetrator, who police said told the mother as he was running away that he didn’t know a baby was in the car.