Child recovered from stolen vehicle in Cicero

CICERO, Ill. (WLS) -- Police recovered a child from a stolen vehicle Monday afternoon in west suburban Cicero.

Chopper 7HD was over the scene when police found the stolen vehicle in an alleyway in a residential neighborhood near 16th Street and South 60th Court shortly before 5 p.m. and a toddler was taken out of the recovered vehicle.

"I'm just so happy it had a happy ending. She got her truck back. She got her kid, and the kid's the most important thing," said Picabo Rouse.

A Cicero official said a woman from Indiana stopped at Al's Italian Restaurant in the 6000-block of West Cermak Road in the late afternoon. Rouse and Felicia Abbey work at that Al's Restaurant location. Police said the mother left her Jeep Cherokee running in a parking spot outside with her 1-year-old son in a car seat in the back.

As she and her other son went into the restaurant to pick up a pizza, police said a man jumped into the car and drove off.

"She's just screaming, 'My car, my baby!' And then the people on the patio are like, 'What just happened?'" Rouse said.

"She admitted that she had left the keys in the ignition and that she ran in to get the pizza, and I guess she wasn't thinking," said Felicia Abbey.

Officials said they believe the suspect realized there was a baby in the car and abandoned the vehicle about half a mile away in an alley after a neighbor heard the baby crying.

Residents said a door of the Jeep had been left open. The baby was hot and sweaty, but unhurt. Paramedics examined the child at the scene.

"I'm relieved. Of course I'm relieved. The police came back and told us the child is okay," Abbey said.

"You have to watch your kids and keep them with you at all times," said Rouse.

Police described the suspect as a Hispanic male, 5 ft. 7 in. tall and about 140 lbs., wearing a red shirt.

If you have any information about the suspect, contact Cicero Police at 708-652-2130. The child's mother is also being questioned.