RIVERHEAD, NY – A 39-year-old Selden woman faces charges after her car, with her child inside, was stolen outside a Long Island business late Monday night.
The incident occurred around 11 p.m. on Dec. 25 in Riverhead, East Main Street. Riverhead Town Police reported that the woman left her Ford Fusion running with the heat on and her 7-year-old child sleeping in the backseat outside the Riverhead Stationary store.
While she was inside the store, an unidentified person drove off with the vehicle. A large-scale search involving Riverhead and Southampton police departments, along with New York State Police troopers, was launched.
The vehicle was found approximately four miles away in Flanders. The child, still asleep in the back seat, was unharmed. A Suffolk County Police K-9 unit conducted a search but did not locate the suspect.
The mother was arrested on suspicion of endangering the welfare of a child. Her name has not been disclosed to protect the child’s identity.