Tampa Bay Criminal Defense Lawyer - carjacking or kidnapping?

By Nicholas Dorsten, Esq.

Two interesting follow up articles from the Bay News 9 website.....

ST. PETERSBURG, Florida --
Police are looking for a man they said stole a car from a St. Petersburg parking lot - with a 6-year-old boy inside.

The child's mother told the police that she had just gotten off work and had picked up her son, Amare, to take him to his first-grade class when she stopped to go inside the Choice Food Store at 3401 Fifth Avenue S to buy him some breakfast.

She said she left the sleeping child inside her black Chevy Impala and her keys in the ignition. When she looked out the window a minute later, she saw the car pulling away and ran outside....but it was too late, her Impala was carjacked.

Less than 10 minutes later, officers found the car in an alley of the 4600 block of Fifth Avenue S. The child was found inside the car and was not hurt.

The suspect reportedly stopped the car, told the boy his mother was on the way to get him, then got out of the car and ran off.

Police said they believe that, because the Impala's windows are tinted, the suspect did not realize there was a child inside the car at the time of the theft.

Police are searching for the suspect, who they have described only as a man in his 20s. They said the gas station was equipped with a surveillance camera, which may have captured the suspect on video.

Officials are searching for a man who they said abducted a child during a carjacking attempt in St. Petersburg on Tuesday morning.

Detectives believe the 17-year-old St. Petersburg, Florida juvenile crime suspect got in the car when the mother left it running with her 6-year-old child inside.

Police said the child's mother ran into Choice Food Store for a few minutes with the keys in the ignition and when she went back outside, she saw her car being driven away by an unknown man, who is being accused of grand theft auto.

Her car was later found abandoned about nine minutes later on the side of the road and the child was found unharmed.

Detectives used surveillance video to identify the juvenile crime suspect, who is now facing charges of auto theft and interference with child custody.

Police said the suspect does not live at home with his parents and his current whereabouts are unknown.

Have you or a family member been charged with a theft crime or a juvenile crime offense? Then contact the St. Petersburg criminal defense attorneys at Blake & Dorsten, P.A. today. These experienced criminal defense lawyers are available 24/7 and offer free consultations. Email your questions to www.info@blakedorstenlaw.com or contact them at (727)286-6141.