What began as a routine Instacart delivery in Georgia quickly became a parent’s worst fear when a mother’s car was stolen with her 2-year-old daughter still in the backseat, newly released 911 audio and Atlanta police body camera video show.
“Someone just stole my car and it has my 2-year-old daughter in it,” the shaken mother tells an Atlanta 911 dispatcher in audio made public by police.
Asked by the dispatcher to confirm whether the child was inside the vehicle, the mother responds, “Yes, my 2-year-old daughter was in the backseat. I was dropping off an Instacart order and I came back outside and my car is gone. My daughter was inside.”
Atlanta police officers surrounded a stolen vehicle after using license plate readers to track it down during the rescue of a 2-year-old girl. (Atlanta Police Department)
Seconds later, her panic is unmistakable as she cries out again, “My daughter was inside!”
The frightening incident happened at about 4:36 p.m. on July 30, the Atlanta Police Department said.
According to police, the car had been left running with the toddler inside while the child’s mother stepped away to complete an Instacart delivery.
Officers from the Atlanta Police Department’s Auto Crimes Enforcement Unit launched an immediate search and used the city’s license plate reader network to find the stolen car, the suspect and the child in less than 15 minutes, police said.
Body camera video released by the department shows officers surrounding the stolen vehicle and ordering the driver to raise his hands and get out.
“Hands up! Hands up!” an officer shouts.
Atlanta police body camera video shows officers handcuffing Saleem Martin after locating a stolen vehicle with a toddler inside. (Atlanta Police Department)
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“Hands on the window now,” another officer orders. “What you’re gonna do is you’re going to get out and face away from me, you understand me? Get out the car, slow. Put your hands behind your back.”
The video shows officers taking the suspect into custody as the toddler cries nearby and her mother works to calm her.
“It’s okay, baby. It’s okay, baby,” the mother can be heard saying.
Moments later, an officer radios, “The child is okay. The child’s okay.”
Police identified the suspect as 21-year-old Saleem Martin.
Mugshot of Saleem Martin, who faces kidnapping and other charges after police say he stole a vehicle with a toddler inside. (Atlanta Police Department)
Martin was charged with kidnapping, theft by taking, simple battery, entering an automobile, cruelty to children and criminal attempt to commit a felony, according to police.
Authorities said the toddler was unharmed and reunited with her parents.
According to an arrest warrant obtained by Atlanta NBC affiliate 11Alive, the child’s mother later noticed that the bottom of her daughter’s dress was unbuttoned.
The warrant alleges the toddler told her mother “the man did it,” referring to the man who had been driving the car.
Martin allegedly had both hands on the child’s torso when officers found him and was trying to duck down and hide between the seats, according to the warrant cited by the outlet.
The Atlanta Police Department’s Special Victims Unit was brought into the investigation.
Martin allegedly told investigators he had been touching the child because he was trying to calm her down, according to 11Alive.
He also allegedly claimed he jumped into the vehicle because he was trying to “get back to New Jersey” and did not realize the toddler was in the backseat until after he drove away.
According to the arrest warrant, Martin also allegedly told investigators he realized there was an iPad inside the vehicle and discarded it because he believed it could be used to track him.
News Outlet reached out to the Atlanta Police Department for comment.
