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Subscribe to RSSA 3-year-old who was in the back seat of his dad’s car when it was hijacked from a convenience store in Colorado is back home after the toddler sought help from a stranger.
The father, Anthony Pettiford, was on his way home from a family gathering early Sunday when he stopped to buy some gum, The Gazette in Colorado Springs reported. Pettiford said he was chatting with friends next to the car when a man jumped into his white 1995 Chrysler New Yorker and took off.
A family friend told KKTV that she and her boyfriend tried chasing after the car, but couldn't catch up to it.
"The only thing that we thought was, 'we have to catch him,'" Kim Rayford told the station.
As it turned out, the carjacker dropped the boy off a few blocks from the store, where he walked up to a woman’s door.
"Help me. I’m cold," the boy, wearing a diaper and a thin jacket in snowy weather, told Traci Gilbert.
Gilbert’s adult son drove the boy to find his home. During the search, he waved down a police officer who happened to be looking for the boy. The officer reunited the toddler with his father.
"He never shed a single tear the whole time," Gilbert told the Gazette.
Watch KTTV's report of the carjacking
The Associated Press cited Gilbert as saying she was amazed the toddler made it up the steps to her second-floor duplex carrying a plastic shopping bag containing soy milk, a sippy cup, two diapers, wipes and pajama bottoms.
Pettiford said he's proud his son. "I'm glad my son went to a good person," Pettiford told KKTV.
The boy’s name has not been released.
Colorado Springs police said the father is unlikely to be charged since he was standing next to the vehicle when it was carjacked.
The suspect and the New Yorker are still missing.
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Leave a Comment:
So this strange toddler was wandering the neighborhood.Good thing he did not wear a hoody!
I kind of feel sorry for the car thief. Imagine his shock when he discovered the child inside the car! That happens when people take their attention away from their cars with a child still inside. Someone who was merely stealing a car faces kidnapping charges. Big difference in legal penalty. And, to me, kind of unfair.
Idiot. Feel sorry for a car thief. What's wrong with you? How about get a job like the rest of good people. You, sir, are either the guys brother, or a moron.
I have a hard time feeling sorry for the CRIMINAL. First off, he had to have known that he was taking someone else's car, and that doing so was wrong. Second, the dad had just gotten into the car, and was preparing to leave the 7-11, when he stopped to say 'hi' to friends who were just pulling in. The carjacker probably knew that there was a child in the car, because he would have observed the dad putting the child in the carseat. Sorry, not a lot of sympathy here. I hope they throw the book at him. Suppose, just for the sake of argument that you are correct and the carjacker did not know there was a toddler in the car when he stole it. How does that change the fact that the carjacker knew it was a toddler that he put out, half naked, into the snowy night? The carjacker had to have known that there was a really good chance that the toddler would die as a result. Still feeling sorry for the CRIMINAL?
Thank God for happy ending & highly verbal child BUT I want to SLAP that father in the head BECAUSE why did his son only have on a diaper & jacket in COLORADO at this time of year!!!
Maybe because he was safe and warm in his dad's car, at least until a criminal came along and changed that.
It is my hope that when the car is found the police will do a thorough job and get prints from it. Arrest the bastard that stole the vehicle and also charge him with child endangerment, kidnapping, etc. because the child was let go where he could also have wandered into vehicular street traffic and been seriously hurt or killed.
You shouldn't have a toddler out in "snowy weather", in a diaper and and a thin jacket, and in a 1995 New Yorker. The father should have been prepared for disaster in the first place.....
You're absolutely right, the father should have been prepared for disaster before thinking of taking a child in the car with him. What was he thinking? He should have had tire chains, a jack, a spare tire, at least a dozen road flares, a tow strap and/or tow chain, a shovel, several pairs of warm gloves, hats and coats, sleeping bags, at least three weeks worth of food, water and diapers, three weeks worth of clothing for the child, a CB radio, a flare gun, life jackets (in case of being swept off the road in a flash flood), scuba gear (in case he couldn't get everyone out of the car before it sank), a first aid kit including dressings, gloves and splints at a minimum, matches or a lighter, candles, fire extinguisher and probably a firearm. You do carry all of those things in your vehicle at all times, don't you? I mean, shouldn't you "have been prepared for disaster in the first place..."?
The car is probably on its way to China via Portland or Seattle. Less work than stripping for parts and selling pieces. Especially with the keys and no damage and easy to hide in a container.
How freekin' smart and self sufficient this child was. I want to hug him : )
they should ban gum
At the end it seems to be saying a New Yorker (person) was still missing, why can they not just say vehicle or something? I do not know, just thought it was weird.
Good thing the criminal let the little boy out or he could been used as a hostage if the cops had found him still driving some time later, it would not have been the first time it happen. That the suspect was still driving the stolen car sometime after the crime and the hostage part.
A 3 yo carring all those shopping items...impressive. Glad to see he is ok
Father should have "stood his ground". I also didn't realize that they call crack rocks "gum" these days. I'm going to have to bone-up on street lingo again, I guess.
DudeReally, does everything have to be about drugs? Is it not even remotely possible that people go to 7-11 to buy gum?
First, this stupid f*cker leaves his kid in a car, then, he perpetuates a high-speed chase, with his kid in the car. What a dumbass. I still say people need to have a license to be allowed to have children. He's probably related to Trayvon Martin.
You really don't like Black people, do you? Don't look now, but your bigotry is showing.
Are you saying that he should have just stood there and watched as a criminal drove away with his child? I'm sure you would have then criticized him for not following.
Anybody hear any comment from Obama yet?? Al, Jesse.
I'm glad the kid is safe, but I'm wondering why he only had a diaper and thin jacket on in cold, snowy weather?
When I think of this sweet little boy saying help me I'm cold I just want to cry. SO glad it ended ok. It sounds like the father left the keys in the ignition. BIG mistake when your child is in the car. Also early Sunday prob means really late Sat. night.
The writer clearly misspelled "C-R-A-C-K". "G-U-M" spells gum. Nobody buying gum would leave a kid in a car unattended......
Does anybody read anything these days before spouting off? The dad did not leave his kid in the car while he bought gum. He put the kid back in the car after buying gum. Then he started the car, and prepared to leave. Then his friends pulled in. Then he stepped out of the car to say, 'hi', without ever leaving the car. Then the carjacker jumped in the car and drove away, when he was within arm's length of the car. Jeeze, try reading before writing, and you'll come off sounding a good deal more intelligent than you do right now.
Well, I'm glad the kid is safe. :)
the bigger issue here for everyone should be if this is an example of child abuse, if a 3 yr. old is in only a light jacket and a diaper, then c.p.s should be all over this. granted, it's not common for a child to be in diapers at that age, but , again, that has been proven to be a possible sign of sexual abuse. stupid/unaware parents can be as dangerious as abusive parents.
It's not child abuse to have a child in a light jacket and diaper inside a warm car. It became child abuse when the carjacker put the child out on a snowy night and drove away. It's the carjacker who is guilty of child abuse, not the dad.
if you don't have a problem with the quality of the parental care here, then you have issues too.
Leaving a 3 year old in a car at a convienence store is also a crime. The Father needs to be looked at as well
Since when is it a crime to have a child in a car that you are standing right next to? Doesn't that make all parents criminals when they put the child in the seat, and then walk around to the driver's door?
I can't believe some of the comments on here. It seems as though some of you are trying to put the blame on the father for being a victim. I am pretty sure if he knew what the criminal had in mind, that he would have done things different. But if a crminal wants something bad enough, it would seem to me, that he would do anything to get it. so no matter how much you are trying to be safe, they will find a different way.
It's all well and good that you be very wary of situations that may come up, but you can't foresee the future and can't be possibly ready for every scenario that a criminal may put you in. criminals live in a our lawful society. We don't live in theirs. I refuse to let criminals dictate the way lawful citizens live.
Blame the LAW BREAKER, he attacked and intiated the situation. He was desperate enogh to put the child and everyone in danger. The criminal put the child in danger,not what the father could have done to avoid all possible scenarios that could play out before a criminal attacks.
As far as some on here saying that the child should be with at all times, What if the child was sleeping in the car seat and you needed to get out and pump gas. would you wake the the child bundle him up and hang on to him while you were pumping gas because there might be some one around there that will stop at nothing to steal your car or hurt you and the child? The father was right there.
@simply put:
He left the kid unattended in a car to go purchase "gum" in snowy (cold) weather with nothing more than "a diaper and thin jacket." Do you REALLY think this is being a responsible father? I don't.
No, he didn't. Read the damn article. He had just put the child back in the carseat, started the car, and was preparing to drive away when he saw some friends drive in. He stopped, stepped out of the car to say, 'hi', and was close enough to touch the car when the carjacker struck. How is it that some people can write, and yet they can't read?
i agree totally, it would seem that heather is not aware of the simple thing that everybody else is here, soooo!, here it is heather. if the parent(s) of a child is so unaware or insensitive as to take a 3 yr. old out in cold snowy conditions, with no idea of an unexpected stituation, dressed like that, then i think any decent parent would have to wonder how that child was being treated otherwise. no one is debating as to the guilt of the car thief!!. how is it that some people can read,and yet they can't understand?
This is what I would call a true miracle. So many things could have gone wrong. The carjacker could have been violent and hurt or killed the kid. He could have wandered into the street and been hit by another car. He could have frozen to death. He could have wandered up to the wrong door and bad things could have happened. The possibilities are endless...
As for the car jack@$$ - why the heck would anybody steal a 17-year-old car? For real? You could probably get more for a stolen bicycle with one flat tire...
Im sure Im repeating what others have said, but why (again) was the boy in a diaper and a thin coat in cold weather?
Because his dad anticipated that he was going to remain in the nice, warm car, not be put out into a snowy night.
Will the kid get a time-out for asking a STRANGER for help?
A three year old is not a "toddler."
Some VERY smart commentors out there...too bad the dumbass cops couldn't figure it out! And the POS 1995 New Yorker HASN'T been located yet?? Who the hell would want to be SEEN in a 1995 New Yorker let alone STEAL one! HOW MANY 1995 New Yorkers are there out there that one wouldn't stick out ANYWHERE like the proverbial "sore thumb"?? I felt so bad for the little toddler who was AMAZINGLY intelligent for only being three (3) years old...how sad he's stuck with such a LOSER for a father!