A 4-year-old girl was briefly abducted in Queens on Friday evening when two men stole her mother’s car while it was left running outside a laundromat. The mother, a 31-year-old woman, had left her daughter unattended in the backseat of the vehicle, a red 2023 Acura Integra, near 101st Avenue and 113th Street in South Richmond Hill around 4:30 p.m., according to law enforcement sources.
The two men seized the opportunity to steal the car, driving away with the child still strapped in the backseat. The New York Police Department (NYPD) reported that the vehicle and the child were found later that evening on 101st Avenue and Sanders Place, just after 7 p.m.
The child was unharmed and did not require medical treatment, as confirmed by the police. Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) assessed the girl at the scene, and she appeared to be unaffected by the incident. Photos from the scene showed the young girl smiling slightly and holding an inflated green rubber glove. She was also seen hugging a police officer, who responded with a smile.
The mother, visibly relieved yet distressed, was seen sitting in the back of an EMS vehicle after being reunited with her daughter. The suspects, who could face charges of grand larceny and potential kidnapping-related charges, remain at large. The investigation is ongoing.
This incident marks the second carjacking involving a child in New York City in as many days. On Thursday, a man’s car was stolen in the Bronx while his 7-year-old son was inside. The father was placing his son in the running vehicle when an unknown male jumped into the driver’s seat and sped off. The vehicle and the child were later found unharmed in the borough’s Eastchester neighborhood. The suspect in this case also remains at large.