Sharjah: A seven-hour baby snatch drama, sparked after a thief stole a car with a month-old girl on board, saw police take to social media for help, Gulf News can reveal.
UAE | General
Baby unharmed after ordeal in stolen car
Parents had stepped out at petrol station leaving engine running
- By Aghaddir Ali, Staff Reporter
- Published: 20:20 August 19, 2012
- Image Credit: Courtesy: Sharjah Police
- Mohammad Ehsan with his wife and baby Lailas. The Syrian couple left Ehsan in the back seat of their car with the engine still running as they went inside a petrol station. A thief drove away with the vehicle, triggering a frantic search by the police.
Around 1,730 concerned Twitter users answered Sharjah police’s pleas for help in tracking down the lost child.
And a vigilant Emirati user cracked the case using the description posted online and spotting the car, leading police straight to the infant.
Little Lailas Ehssan was snatched when her parents’ car was stolen from a petrol station in Industrial Area 6, just after 10pm on Saturday.
They left her in the back seat of their white Toyota Prado, with the engine still running in the unlocked car, as they went inside the station.
Within minutes a thief got behind the wheel and sped off, taking Syrian Mohammad Ehssan’s baby daughter with the car.
A source close to the family said: “They only left her in the car for a few minutes, in the back seat, with the air conditioning on.
“They just went into the station to pick a few things up.
“They never thought for a second that something like this could happen, it was all so quick.”
Panicked Mohammad, a Sharjah resident, called in Sharjah Police who spent two hours trying to find the little girl as a police manhunt was launched to find the infant.
By 1am, Sharjah Police posted pleas on their Twitter and Facebook pages, asking the public to help find the child, releasing the make, model and registration of the car.
Sharjah Police Twitter follower, Emirati Ahmad Ibrahim Al Shams, spotted the car from the description posted by police online and immediately alerted officers.
Police then raced to the Muailha area of Sharjah, at 5.45am, where they found the baby inside the car and arrested a male suspect.
The baby was then taken to Al Qassimi hospital to check her condition, which has been reported as unharmed.
Lailas has now been reunited with her parents and discharged from hospital.
Sharjah police warned her parents not to leave their car engine running, especially at petrol stations, and accused them of negligence over the incident - although no formal proceedings will be launched against them.
They are still questioning the suspect as investigations into the incident continue.
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