Police have arrested a homeless man who they say stole a car with a 4-year-old inside and then ditched the vehicle in Downtown Long Beach where two young women who saw an Amber Alert quickly spotted it.
The boy, according to authorities, was in a car with one of his parents in the area of First Street and Linden Avenue on Tuesday afternoon when the parent stepped away from the car and left it running.
That’s when a man, whom police identified as 34-year-old Timothy Wood, got in the car and stole it, according to authorities. The CHP sent out an alert about the boy around 5:46 p.m. as Long Beach police set out to look for leads.
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Meanwhile, Reagan Dunn and Yenni Lu were hanging out in Long Beach when the Amber Alert hit their phones.
Dunn said the two had “nothing else to do,” so they decided to drive around and see if they could find him.
The two 20-year-olds drove around the Downtown area and quickly spotted the stolen Honda Accord near The Pike Outlets. They said nobody was around the car when they found it and called 911.
Police soon arrived, took the boy out of the back seat and reunited him with his parents.
By using security cameras in the area, police identified Wood as the suspected thief, found him and arrested him near where he had abandoned the vehicle, the LBPD said.
He was taken into custody on suspicion of kidnapping, child endangerment, and stealing a vehicle. His bail was set at $100,000, according to police, who said the investigation is still ongoing.
Police commended Dunn and Lu for their “act of heroism in finding this young boy.”
Michael Lozano contributed to this report.