A 13-year-old girl is safe after a man allegedly carjacked a vehicle from a gas station while she was asleep in the backseat early Wednesday morning in Fort Worth, police said. Police are still searching for the person -- or people -- suspected of robbery.
"There had to be at least two or more individuals involved in this case," said Fort Worth Police Department public information officer Buddy Calzada, who said that a gold Toyota Sienna pulled up to a car left running at the pump. "A black male wearing a red hoodie and dark pants got out of that Toyota and jumped into that vehicle that was running and drove off."
The car at the pump wasn't empty. About 3 a.m., the driver of that car went inside the QuikTrip gas station at 2949 Basswood Boulevard, and left the car on with her 13-year-old daughter asleep in the back seat. That's when the suspects pulled up next to the vehicle and one of them jumped inside, police said.
"The daughter woke up several blocks down the road. She was kind of confused," Calzada said. Police said they didn't know if the suspect knew the girl was in the car.
The suspect wrecked the vehicle a few blocks away from the gas station at a residential roundabout and left the scene on foot, police said.
Police are reviewing surveillance video in hopes of identifying the man. Police said the crime should be a warning to drivers.
"I like to sit in a warm car as well too," Calzada said. "But you have to secure that vehicle because you're just leaving a vehicle that's ready to be stolen."
