Teen Steals Car With 2-Year-Old Toddler Inside: West Hartford PD

WEST HARTFORD, CT — A 16-year-old teen is custody after stealing a car from a business with a toddler inside, according to West Hartford police.

On Tuesday around 4:30 p.m., the owner of the car called 911 to report that their vehicle had been taken from Premium Auto, which is located at 932 New Britain Avenue. A 2-year-old toddler was still inside the car as it traveled west on New Britain Avenue.

West Hartford police said they were able to locate the car a short time later traveling north on South Main Street and used a tire deflation device to slow the car down.

The teen crashed the car into another vehicle at the corner of South Main Street and Sedgwick Road, according to police. There were three people inside the other car, which included two children. Fortunately, they were uninjured.

After the crash, police said the teen fled from the stolen car and after a short foot chase, he was taken into custody.

Police said they later determined that the teen had dropped off the 2-year-old toddler outside of a local business shortly after stealing the car. The toddler was found uninjured and reunited with their family.

The teen was taken to the hospital for treatment as a precaution, police said. He was released on Tuesday night and taken to the West Hartford Police Department, according to police.

The teen was charged with second-degree kidnapping, risk of injury, first-degree reckless endangerment, second-degree larceny, interfering with an officer, second-degree criminal trover, engaging in pursuit, reckless driving, evading responsibility, operating without a license, following too close, and failure to obey traffic control signals.

He was then turned over to the Juvenile Court in Hartford pursuant to a court issued “Order to Detain” related to the case, police said.