HARVEY, La. – A man who stole a vehicle with a five-year-old child inside was apprehended after the suspect had apparently let the child go, according to Sheriff Newell Normand.
The incident occurred around 3:49 p.m. in the 1100 block of Manhattan Blvd. in Harvey.
According to spokesman John Fortunato, a woman called 911 to say that her car had been taken from in front of a business on Manhattan. The caller said she had left her son inside of the car with the engine running, while she went inside the business.
Fortunato said deputies immediately broadcast the description of the car and an officer who spotted the 2007 Chevy Monte Carlo, attempted to stop the car.
At that point, Fortunato said, the suspect, identified as 39-year-old Jerry Smith of Marrero, got out of the car and ran into a nearby neighborhood.
Deputies who checked the car did not find the child inside. A short time later, a 911 call said that the young child was found crying in front of a convenience store on Manhattan and Gretna Blvd.
Fortunato said Smith was apprehended with the help of a K-9 dog in an abandoned apartment nearby.
