It must have been a very scary ride for a 5-year-old girl, and it set Fairfax County, Virginia, police on edge for nearly an hour, when a car was stolen Sunday night with the child in the back seat.
Fairfax County police said the driver, the girl’s stepfather, left the car’s engine running while he ducked into a restaurant on the 6200 block of Little River Turnpike to pick up food around 6:30 p.m. When he got back to the parking lot, the car was gone and so was the little girl.
Police flooded the area, and Fairfax 1, the county police helicopter, took to the sky to help search for the stolen car with the girl inside.
Around 7:18 p.m., the girl was found by people in downtown D.C., all alone near 13th and E streets Northwest. The child was promptly returned to her family, and police said that child and family were extended county resources provided to crime victims.
Police are searching for the person who did it and the stolen 2012 gray Honda Accord with a black hood. The car has damage on the front and rear, and it bears Maryland tags 94667CJ.
The suspect is described as a man with dark curly hair. Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call the police’s Major Crimes Bureau at 703-246-7800.