By Sandoval Signpost Staff
A baby was found safe and unharmed in a stolen vehicle in Rio Rancho last weekend.
According to the Sandoval County Sheriff’s Office, a truck was stolen with a young child inside of it on Jan. 18 from Platina Road SE around 4:50 p.m.
About an hour later, the Rio Rancho Police Department announced the truck had been found abandon with the child safely inside at a restaurant on Unser Blvd.
SCSO said the father of the child went looking for the child in another vehicle he owned and spotted that the stolen black Chevy truck heading East toward the mountains. The father eventually lost site of the vehicle on Unser near Rust Medical Center.
SCSO deputies and RRPD officers continued to search for the vehicle as dispatch requested air support. License Plate Readers were also programmed to alert authorities should that vehicle pass. SCSO deputies canvassed a two-mile radius of where the vehicle was last seen. Around 5:30 p.m., Deputy Wilson located the vehicle at a Taco Cabana on Unser.
The baby was found alone inside the vehicle. The baby was not injured and was smiling, according to SCSO.
State police, Albuquerque police and the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office assisted in the response. No details were provided regarding a possible suspect. RRPD did release a picture of a stolen green Jeep that is believed to have been driven by an accomplice.
“The swift action of all agencies involved and especially Deputy Wilson locating the vehicle saved the child’s life,” Sandoval County Sheriff’s Office said in a press release. “With temperatures being so low that last few days and if no one would have observed the baby in the truck, the baby would have been in danger.”