Man Steals Pickup Truck With 3 Kids Inside At Metro Detroit Gas Station: Police

WAYNE, MI — A man has been arrested after stealing a pickup truck with three kids inside Sunday night outside a metro Detroit gas station, according to police.

Police said a woman stopped at a Mobil Gas Station on Michigan Avenue and Venoy Road in Wayne at 11 p.m. Sunday.

The woman went into the gas station to buy groceries, leaving her 3-year-old and two 18-month-old children inside the truck, police said.

With the truck running, a 25-year-old man jumped in and drove off, with the kids still inside, police said.

Shortly later, an undercover Dearborn detective spotted the man getting out of the pickup truck on Cherry Hill Road near Inkster Road, police said.

Moments later, a caller told officers they could hear children crying in a parking lot of a business in the area of Middlebelt and Grandview in Inkster, nearly two miles away, police said.

Officers went to the parking lot and found the three kids, unharmed and still in their car seats, police said.

They were returned to their mother after officials evaluated them.

The 25-year-old man was arrested in connection with the incident.

Police did not release any other details.