Police: Car recovered, suspect in custody after car stolen with child inside

PHILADELPHIA (WTXF) - A child who was in the backseat of a stolen car has been found safe in Northeast Philadelphia.

3-year-old Aaron Ortiz, Jr. is safe tonight after he was in the backseat of a car that was stolen. His father, Aaron Sr., was likely breathing the biggest sigh of all.

"The father of the 3-year-old child went into a store at Cottman and the Boulevard, left the vehicle running with the keys in it and the 3-year-old child in the backseat," Philadelphia Police Department Chief Inspector Scott Small said.

According to police, he parked his 2013 Honda Accord in the fire lane outside KicksUSA to run in and buy a pair of sneakers for his son when an alleged thief hopped in and took off with the boy inside.

Just a mile north on the Boulevard, the alleged car thief stopped behind that firehouse and released the little boy, still in his car seat, then took off again.

Family members arrived to console the little guy and an all-points- bulletin went out for the Honda Accord. Less than 90 minutes later, Philly highway patrol officers stopped the Accord on the 6800 block of Torresdale Avenue.