A child had just moments to escape a carjacking when a thief jumped in the vehicle and sped off from a Detroit gas station, police say.
According to Detroit Police, the female driver went inside the store to pay for gas. The suspect then entered the gold 2004 Pontiac Montana, and the 7-year-old girl barely managed to jump out of the minivan.
Watch the surveillance video below:
“She was smart though. She was very, very, very smart.”
That’s how Good Samaritan Iyad Mohmad describes the child who jumped out of her mom’s gold 2004 Pontiac Montana before stole it.
It happened at the Valero around 5 p.m. on Tuesday. The girl's mother was inside the store at the time.
Mohmad was working at the store when he saw the woman rush out and hop into another customer’s car trying to chase down the minivan.
He says she must have thought her daughter was still inside, but the little girl made her way inside the store.
“She was crying so much. It was so bad. I couldn’t believe it, you know,” he said.
Mohmad says he gave the girl something to eat and drink.
“Called the police and told her her mom would be back and I will take care of you,” Mohmad said.
The suspect escaped, and no one was injured.
Police say the suspect is a black male with a medium brown complexion between ages 30 to 35, 6-feet 2-inches and about 240 pounds.
He was last seen wearing ripped jeans, tan work boots, sunglasses and a bright yellow shirt over his shoulder.
Mohmad says the mother returned with other family members, all of them relieved that little girl was in the store the whole time.
He added, “She thanked me for that, it was an amazing moment to see her daughter back.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Commercial Auto Theft Unit at (313) 596-2555 or Crime Stoppers at (800) SPEAK-UP.
