HOLLY HILL, Fla. — Police in Volusia County are searching for the man they say stole an SUV with a sleeping child in the back.
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Officers said the man took the SUV and child from a driveway on Clifton Avenue, near Center Avenue.
A good Samaritan found the little boy safe and unhurt less than a mile away.
Surveillance video from a business on State Street in Holly Hill captured the moments investigators say a crook stopped to get the child out of the red Volkswagen and drove away, leaving the boy alone for several minutes.
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Eventually, Darrel Everman saw the boy and called 911.
“He was crying a little bit. I knew it was important to keep him calm,” Everman said. “I acted like nothing really major was going on and tried to find someone who was responsible for him and figured out that police needed to be involved.”
It didn’t take long for Volusia County deputies to show up and help the toddler get back to his parents.
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Police said the child’s parents ran inside a relative’s house just blocks away to drop something off and left him in the car because he was sleeping.
They were only going to be a few minutes, but in that short time, the suspect jumped in the SUV and drove away with the little boy.
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The little boy is now safe at home.
Police are asking anyone with information about the suspect to come forward.
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