Union City police have arrested a man they say stole an SUV with a 1-year-old inside.
Authorities received a tip that a man who walked into a Shell gas station on Roosevelt Highway early Friday morning matched the description of the suspect in Sunday’s vehicle theft at the same gas station, according to Union City police spokesman Officer Jerome Turner.
MORE: Police ID man accused of stealing SUV from gas station with 1-year-old inside
“The citizen remained in contact with dispatchers until officers arrived on scene,” he said in a news release.
Hasheim Edison, 22, was taken into custody shortly after 1:15 a.m. on charges of vehicle theft and kidnapping, Turner said.
The arrest came just days after police said the child’s father, 22-year-old Larry James, left the toddler in a Kia Sorrento while he went inside the Shell to pay for gas, Channel 2 Action News reported. The SUV was still running.
Edison allegedly jumped behind the wheel and drove off with the child inside.
The Kia Sorrento was later found abandoned — with the child inside — near Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, officials told Channel 2. The child was checked out by emergency officials and released to the care of his grandmother.
James was charged with second-degree child cruelty after the incident.
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