A 3-year-old boy is safe after a thief took advantage of a mother’s alleged recklessness, police said.

Deveney Shanay Hood left her son in her running car outside a southeast Atlanta laundromat Tuesday night, Atlanta police spokeswoman Officer Lisa Bender said.

The 25-year-old mother called police just after 9 p.m., when she said someone stole her car from outside the Spincycle Laundromat on Moreland Avenue, Bender said.

Police recovered the car about a quarter-mile away and emergency medical service workers checked on the boy, who was not injured, Bender said.

Hood was charged with reckless conduct and booked in the Fulton County jail, records show.

The car and child were released to a family member, Bender said.

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