3-Month-Old Baby Found On A Porch After Car She Was Left In Was Stolen [Video]
A father left his 3-month-old baby in his car, with the engine running, at around 1 a.m. When he returned, the car was gone, and so was the baby. Little Dakota Grimes is now safe and well after she was found on a porch.
As reported by the Washington Post, the baby’s father left his car with the engine running and the 3-month-old baby inside as he entered McDonnell Drugs at 12:54 a.m. on the 16600 block of Harper.
According to Detroit Police Chief James Craig, an Amber Alert was issued early on Monday morning in an attempt to find the baby, but only almost two hours after the car was stolen at around 3 a.m. An hour later, the Michigan State Police got involved along with assistance from the FBI.
However, according to officials, the baby girl was found alive and well, still in her car seat, on a porch on the 9100 block of Lakepointe shortly after that alert was issued. Craig told reporters there was no evidence of any trauma, but the baby was taken to a local hospital as a precautionary measure.
Thieves leave baby on porch after stealing car https://t.co/TeROMYE0xC
— Detroit Free Press (@freep) May 16, 2016
The 30-year-old unnamed father wasn’t considered a suspect, and no charges are expected to be filed against him although reportedly he mistakenly gave the wrong license plate number for his white Chevy Impala when he first made the report.
According to Craig, police are looking for three suspects and the white, four-door 2006 Chevy Impala is still missing.
As reported by the Detroit News, 3-month-old Dakota was lucky that the thieves dropped her off where they did. Reportedly, if she had been dropped at the home on either the left or right of where she was left, those homes are vacant and it might have taken longer to find her.
It turns out Gary Zielinski, 65, found her on the porch after arriving at his friend Ray Harper’s home at around 7:15 a.m. on Monday. The two men work together as contractors. He said he almost stumbled over the baby, then knocked on one of the windows.
When Harper came to the window, Zielinski asked, “You know there’s a baby on your porch?”
Harper, 41, thought at first thought it was one of his children playing a joke, but when he saw the baby, he didn’t know her. He said he opened the door and they took the 3-month-old baby inside. Reportedly, baby Dakota still had her bottle and pacifier.
“She was cold,” Zielinski said. “She was taken at 1 a.m., so there’s no telling how long she was out there.”
Shortly after this both Harper’s and Zielinski’s phones went off with Amber Alerts. They then saw the story about the missing 3-month-old baby on the TV news.
3-month-old found safe on porch: ‘It’s a miracle’ https://t.co/KO2XCibbq4
— James David Dickson (@downi94) May 16, 2016
Zielinski said they called 911 and within minutes the police were there. Reportedly, after securing the baby and questioning the two men, the police left and the Amber Alert was canceled.
Sgt. Sarah Krebs, the Amber Alert coordinator for the Michigan State Police, said authorities are now working on why there was a delay of several hours between the time that Dakota was reported missing and when the Amber Alert went out.
However, Krebs believes the delay could have been caused by a “procedural problem,” involving an incomplete police report and the incorrect license plate number initially given by the father for the missing car.
Craig said that in a meeting with Dakota’s father at the 9th precinct, he told him he was angry with him for leaving the 3-month-old baby in the running car at 1 a.m.
“Now I understand he did drop the mother off, but it was not just so much being out at 1 a.m., it was the fact that he left the child in the car with it running. That’s a recipe for what? A bad situation.”
[Image via Detroit Police Department]
