‘I let my baby down:’ Mother of child taken during car theft at Atlanta gas station speaks out

ATLANTA — A mother recalls the traumatic moment a thief stole a car with her baby in the backseat.

Atlanta police captured the child’s rescue on camera.

Channel 2′s Courtney Francisco was out in southwest Atlanta where this unfolded.

It happened on Sept. 5 around 9:52 p.m. in the Texaco gas station parking lot located on Northside Drive SW after police said they received reports of a car being stolen with a child inside.

When the officer arrived, the victim’s other child told them that an iPad was inside the vehicle and that its location was available via the Find My iPhone app.

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“I thought I’d never see my child again or if they did find her they were going to find her dead,” the mother told Channel 2′s Courtney Francisco.

Officers tracked the iPad to a location 0.4 miles from the gas station, where they found the car sitting in an empty lot on Walker Street.

Authorities said the suspect was no longer inside the car however, the victim’s child was.

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After breaking the windows of the locked vehicle, officers were able to rescue the child and return her to her family.

Police confirmed the child was unharmed.

“I let my baby down. I knew better. Even though I knew better, it was only a mistake. I let my two-year-old down,” the mother said.

It took police less than an hour to reunite mother and baby.

“We was all hugging because that was such a sigh of relief,” said the grandmother.

In the body camera video, you hear the mother tell the baby she is sorry repeatedly.

“Y’all, I’m blessed. I’m blessed. Thank God for my nephew,” said the mother. “He’s a hero in my eyes.”

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