A mother was cited for creating a hazardous condition after her vehicle was stolen from a DeKalb County gas station Monday night with her 3-year-old son still inside.
The boy was found unharmed about three miles away, and he has since been reunited with his mother, according to DeKalb County police.
Investigators, however, said the ordeal might have been avoided. The woman pulled up to the QuikTrip at the corner of Panola Road and Hillandale Drive just before 11:30 p.m., parked her vehicle and left it running while she went inside, DeKalb police spokesman Sgt. J.D. Spencer said.
Her son was left unattended in the back seat. Witnesses at the gas station saw someone get into the vehicle and drive away, Spencer said.
After a search, police found the boy and the vehicle abandoned near the Arbor Crossings Apartments on Arbor Crossing Drive. The suspects were gone.
No one was in custody Tuesday morning, and the incident remains under investigation, Spencer said.
The woman was also cited for leaving a vehicle unattended. She was not identified.
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