SUV with baby inside stolen outside Kentucky shopping center. Vehicle crashes on I-65.
A 22-year-old man has been arrested after allegedly stealing a vehicle with a 13-month-old girl inside it and crashing it on a Kentucky interstate, according to media reports.
Joshua Reynolds faces a laundry list of charges after stealing an SUV Monday morning the Shepherds Crossing shopping plaza in Shepherdsville, according to WLKY. A woman left her Ford Escape running with the toddler inside as she went into the UPS Store to drop off a package.
Reynolds then got in the SUV and drove off at around 9 a.m. Monday, the Courier-Journal reported.
The SUV was spotted on Interstate 65 by a Hillview police officer, and when the officer tried to conduct a traffic stop, the suspect kept driving, WAVE 3 reported.
“They attempted to stop the suspect, but he unfortunately continued to drive — accelerated — and we pursued him into Jefferson County,” Rick McCubbin, chief of the Shepherdsville Police Department, told WDRB.
Following a chase, Reynolds crashed the vehicle between the Gene Snyder and Outer Loop in Louisville, according to WHAS. The crash was about 5 miles away from the shopping center where the theft occurred.
Police told WAVE 3 it believes the crash happened when the suspect turned around to look at police cars following him and lost control of the SUV.
The toddler was uninjured. Reynolds was taken to a local hospital and then transported to the Bullitt County Detention Center, according to WLKY.
Reynolds, of Radcliff, was charged with theft of an automobile, first-degree wanton endangerment, kidnapping, driving under the influence, driving without an operator’s license, reckless driving and fleeing or evading police. He has an extensive criminal history, WDRB reported.
McCuffin called it “12 minutes of sheer terror” from the time of the call to arrest, WLKY reported.
The child has been reunited with its mother, according to the Courier-Journal. The mother will not face charges, according to WAVE 3.
“To say a lot about the mom at this point — I won’t, because I think she received the worst punishment of her life this morning, with what happened,” McCubbin told WDRB.
This story was originally published December 16, 2019 at 11:22 AM.