Eight-month-old baby kidnapped during terrifying car theft
An eight-month-old baby was kidnapped as thieves stole a car that was idling in the driveway as the father went inside to get his mobile phone.
The thief stole the car from a Marsden home, 30 minutes south of Brisbane, and dumped the infant on the side of the road in an industrial estate.
Father Simplice Ishimwe put his son Amias in the back of the car and left the engine on as he quickly went inside the house.
When he returned to the car moments later, he found a thief in the driver’s seat of his car.
“I’m in there for like about a minute and I’m hearing somebody outside slamming my door,” Mr Ishimwe said.
He rushed outside to the driveway and tried to stop the thief.
“So I tried to grab the door, he reversed it,” Mr Ishimwe said.
“I looked at him, ‘hey stop, stop there’s my baby in there’.”
The criminal took off in Mr Ishimwe’s brand new Volkswagen Golf R with baby Amias in the back seat.
Mr Ishimwe chased the car to the end of the street, before it sped off.
“The give way sign, that’s where I chased him to and I was still close to him,” Mr Ishimwe said.
“I was yelling, you know, ‘help, somebody help call police, my son is being kidnapped in my car’.”
Witnesses say the driver sped off, closely following another car.
The car then headed north on Third Avenue, reportedly reaching speeds of 160km/h, with baby Amias in the back seat.
The car then turned right onto Gilmore Road before dumping the child in an industrial estate where local workers found him and alerted police.
“As I was leaving, I noticed that there was a baby on the side of the road there,” a local worker said.
“It was just sitting there. It wasn’t even crying.”
After dumping the infant, the thief took off again.
The car contained $500 in cash, three American passports, an iPhone and credit cards.
“Why would a person do that to a child?” Jemeeliah Jones, Amias’ mother, said.
“But then again, it’s like, I’m just grateful he was there and unharmed.”
Police have not found the offender, but believe they know his identity. Witnesses have described the offender as around 17-years-old.
The stolen car is a Volkswagen Golf with Queensland registration 580 XRS. It is distinctively loud.
Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.
