POLICE SEARCH FOR CAR THIEF
MOM WHO LEFT TODDLER IN BACK COULD FACE NEGLECT CHARGES
Published January 3, 2002
The Gazette
Colorado Springs, CO
Within minutes, her toddler was gone. Alicia Carver, 41, told police she stopped at her mother's house Tuesday night on East Bijou Street for about three minutes to pick up laundry.
While she was inside, someone jumped in Carver's running Toyota Corolla and drove away with her 14-month-old daughter asleep in the back seat.
About 9:05 p.m., 40 minutes later, the car was found abandoned at Fire Station No. 8 at Chelton and Airport roads, with the toddler safe inside.
The case is apparently one of a car thief who realized he got away with more than he wanted, said Colorado Springs police Sgt. Rick Cirka.
"I can't for the life of me think of the last time that happened," Cirka said Wednesday. "Sometimes it happens with a carjacking. But just to have it stolen with a kid inside, no."
No arrests had been made.
"We recovered prints (from the car) and we're having them processed," Cirka said.
Police said Carver could face child neglect charges. She could not be reached for comment.
"She was pretty much a mess," said Officer Clay Blackwell, who interviewed Carver while her daughter was missing. "At the house she tried to start cleaning, anything to keep her mind off of what happened."
Sgt. Lisa Cintron said Carver made a mistake a lot of people make - leaving their cars running while they step inside.
"You don't think twice about it," Cintron said. "(Carver) probably didn't want to bother unstrapping and peeling out a child. She figured she'd just be in for a minute. But it only takes a minute."
Cintron said a child should not be left unattended in a car under any circumstances. During the winter, she said, people are more inclined to leave cars running, which is against the law.
Cirka said after Carver's car was reported stolen, police dispatchers got the word out citywide.
"Dispatchers called fire stations and asked them to start looking out to see if anyone dropped a car off anywhere," he said. "They went out there and looked, and there's where it was. Station 8 found it in their driveway."
The car and heater had been left on.
Blackwell took Carver to the fire station to get her toddler.
"When we walked in, she was being held by a fireman and kind of smiling," he said.
- Anyone with information on the case is asked to call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 634-STOP.