Pasco thief steals SUV with 10-year-old in backseat. Boy didn’t notice it wasn’t his dad
Pasco police are hunting for a thief who stole an SUV with a child in the backseat this week.
The thief hopped in the driver’s seat of a white Toyota Highlander without noticing the 10-year-old boy playing on his dad’s cellphone in the back.
The boy’s father had stepped away from the SUV while it was running about 6:20 p.m. Sunday on the 1300 block of West Shoshone Street, Pasco police said in a Facebook post.
Pasco Sgt. James Thompson began leading a search of the area, while Officer Carlos Santiago had someone call the father’s cellphone.
They found the SUV two blocks away parked in an alley near 14th Avenue and Irving Street.
The 10-year-old was still in the backseat, and he was quickly reunited with his father.
The boy didn’t realize someone other than his dad had driven the car, and wasn’t able to describe the car thief, said police.
Investigators are hoping someone spotted the Highlander pulling into the alley Sunday evening or maybe caught a photo on their security camera. Anyone with information is asked to call police at 509-628-0333 or email santiagoc@pasco-wa.gov.
This story was originally published December 19, 2019 at 3:44 PM.