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Charlotte, NC (WGHP) — Police are looking for two suspects after officials said a 2-year-old girl was kidnapped from a gas station in Charlotte on Monday.
WSOC reported that 18-year-old Jesse Kelly is wanted for larceny of a motor vehicle, second-degree kidnapping and felony conspiracy.
Officials said they are also looking for an unidentified suspect last seen wearing a red and black jacket and hoodie. The suspect is described as a black male, about 20 years old.
Police said the 2-year-old girl is safe at home after she was kidnapped Monday night after her mother left her alone in a running car outside a south Charlotte gas station.
“I don’t know what her motivation was behind leaving the car running and the child in the car, but she did both of those and was in the store in excess of five minutes,” CMPD Lt. Brad Koch said.
The toddler was kidnapped around 11:30 p.m. when her mother left the car running outside the Quick Trip on South Boulevard, according to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.
Officers said two men jumped inside the woman’s Ford Focus and drove away with the toddler inside.
Police said the suspects did not get far because the child’s father was nearby and began following the stolen vehicle. The father and another man called 911.
The suspects reportedly abandoned the car near the intersection of Arrowood Road and South Boulevard, about two minutes from the gas station, and ran off.
The child was not injured and was immediately returned to her family.
Police said the girl’s mother received a citation for child neglect on suspicion of leaving her daughter unattended in the car.
Officials are asking people to not leave their cars running or unlocked, especially at gas stations or in their driveways.
No arrests have been made.
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