A thief is on the run after stealing a car while a toddler was asleep in the back seat in Melbourne’s south east.
The child was left alone with the engine running outside a grocery store on Nepean Highway in Chelsea at 4pm on Sunday while his father went to do some shopping.
The criminal snuck into the front seat of the grey Volkswagen SUV and took off with the car, but stopped nearby to drop off the child.
A passerby then found him wandering around the area unharmed.
The car was last seen driving erratically south along the Nepean Highway.
Victoria Police said the father left his son alone for just a few minutes with the air conditioning on because he didn’t want to wake the sleeping toddler.
“Never leave young children unattended in a car. A lot can happen in the space of a minute or two,” Victoria Police said in a social media post.
Kidsafe NSW Executive Officer Christine Erskine it was very lucky the child was not hurt.
“Nothing is worth the risk of leaving your child unattended anywhere, particularly a younger child, they should be within reach,” Ms Erskine said.
“It’s very scary to think that these incidents, as rare as they are, do happen because a risk has been taken.”
– AAP
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