HAMPTON ROADS, Va. – A Portsmouth Police officer’s keen eye for detail led to the rescue of a baby found in an abandoned, stolen car.
The police call for a stolen car with a baby inside went out around 10:30 p.m. on March 11.
Chesapeake Police said a father was at Royal Farms on Churchland Boulevard when he took his toddler inside to use the restroom. Investigators said he left his car running with his 8-month-old son in the backseat.
That’s when police said someone jumped into the car and took off with the baby still inside.
Portsmouth Police Officer Michael Greenawalt was on patrol that night and on the lookout for the car when he made an unexpected turn along Academy Avenue.
Then, Greenawalt said he spotted a car in the back parking lot of O’Reilly Auto Parts with the driver’s side door left wide open.
What he found next was shocking.
“When my flashlight scanned to the backseat — talk about startled. I got a little pair, set of baby infant eyes looking at me from the backseat,” he said. “He’s wide-eyed and looking straight at me.”
Officer Greenawalt quickly realized the abandoned car was the one reported stolen and called dispatch.
“I have a suspicious vehicle. We’re in the O’Reilly’s parking lot,” Greenawalt said over the radio to dispatch. “A white Kia Sorento and there is a child on board.”
When asked what was going through his mind when he found the child, Greenawalt acknowledged he felt "a little mass panic at first.”
Police said the driver only got about half a mile away from Royal Farms before ditching the car, leaving the 8-month-old boy in his car seat.
Greenawalt said the baby was just wearing a onesie on a chilly night, and the car was off, parked for about 40 minutes when he stumbled upon it.
“The weather that night was cold. It was already down in the lower 40s,” said Greenawalt. “It was Saturday night going into Sunday morning. All of those businesses were closed. It probably could have been 10, 12 maybe longer hours before somebody would have come across it.”
The infant was quickly reunited with his father.
Greenawalt said this story should be a warning to others.
“Lock your vehicle,” he said. “Even if you think it’s just for that minute, or minute and a half, that’s all it takes.”
The boy's father said his son is doing well and that he was extremely thankful to Officer Greenawalt.
Chesapeake Police said the case is still under investigation. There was no suspect information at last check Tuesday.
