The East Bay saw two separate cases Thursday night where cars were stolen that had babies inside — and both babies are safe, but the suspect in a Concord case is still at large.
The two nearby Contra Costa County towns of Concord and Pittsburg both had Amber Alerts popping up on phones Thursday night, as two separate and possibly unrelated car thefts were immediately complicated by the fact that there was a baby on board in the stolen car. Both little infants are thankfully safe and were reunited with their parents in short order, as both of the theft suspects quickly abandoned the vehicles. And while the Pittsburg babynapping suspect was apprehended early Friday morning and is in custody — after being quickly spotted thanks to a distinctive face tattoo — there are no suspects and few leads in the Concord case.
AMBER ALERT - Contra Costa, Solano, Alameda and San Joaquin Counties.
— CHP - Alerts (@CHPAlerts) November 12, 2021
Last Seen: Bliss Avenue at Railroad Avenue@PittsburgPD IF SEEN CALL 9-1-1 pic.twitter.com/4EXPZJM21F
KTVU has details on the Pittsburg SUV stolen the the baby inside, where the father was outside the vehicle and speaking to another man at the La Pinata restaurant parking lot on Bliss Avenue at about 5:45 p.m. Thursday. A woman approached them and asked for a cigarette and then hopped in the SUV and drove off with it. There was fortunately security video of the incident, which identified that the suspect “has a tattoo on the left side of her face.”
The hero of our story here is an apartment complex manager identifying herself only as Liz, who manages the complex where the SUV was found. “I have 12 kids so it hit me because it could be anybody’s kid and thank God! The Amber Alert came and the baby was sitting here,” Liz told KPIX. “They were blocking the driveway and (the vehicle) was just sitting here and it was weird because they heard a baby scream. Screaming and crying and then they looked in there and flashed the light. The door was open and they got the baby out.”
KRON4 reports that the suspect was spotted and arrested a little after midnight. 24-year-old Nataly Ayala was seen walking Harbor Street in Pittsburg, and is currently in custody on suspicion of vehicle theft and kidnapping at the Martinez Detention Facility.
The victim’s four-month-old child was in the vehicle at
— Concord Police Dept. (@ConcordPD_CA) November 12, 2021
the time it was stolen. Within 30 minutes, Officers located the vehicle abandoned on Garaventa Drive.
The child was in the vehicle and unharmed. Although there was an extensive search, a suspect was not located.
Meanwhile at about 10 p.m. in Concord, a white SUV was stolen on Ygnacio Valley Road, in that case with a four-month-old inside. According to KPIX, “Within 30 minutes, officers found the minivan abandoned a little over a mile away on Garaventa Drive with the child inside and unharmed.”
Police have not determined whether the cases are related, and Concord police say “a suspect was not located.”
Anyone with additional information was asked to call Concord Police Department Detective Sergeant Scott Smith at (925)-671-5074.
Image: @ConcordPD_CA via Twitter
