Teen charged with kidnapping, larceny after allegedly stealing car from gas station in 2022 with 5-year-old inside – Hartford Courant

A 17-year-old is facing charges of kidnapping and larceny in connection with a 2022 incident involving a vehicle stolen from a Windsor Locks gas station with a 5-year-old child inside, police said.

The Windsor Locks Police Department responded to a call about a motor vehicle theft at the Pride gas station at 77 Ella Grasso Turnpike in Windsor Locks just before 9 a.m. on July 9, 2022. Officers learned that the victim’s 5-year-old son was in the car at the time of the theft, police said in a Facebook post Monday.

Minutes later, the Connecticut State Police said they located the vehicle with the child inside it on Route 20, according to Windsor Locks police.

The child was unharmed, police said.

Investigators learned that a second vehicle had picked up the suspect after the suspect abandoned the stolen vehicle and the child, according to police.

Using video surveillance, evidence collected at the scene, interviews and intelligence from other local police departments, officers identified a 17-year-old juvenile suspect.

Windsor Locks police applied for a juvenile arrest warrant charging the teen with second-degree larceny, second-degree kidnapping and risk of injury to a minor, police said. On Feb. 24, Detective Dan Bontempo issued a juvenile summons for the suspect who was already in the custody of the Department of Correction at the Manson Youth Institution on unrelated charges, according to police.

The teen is scheduled to appear in Superior Court for Juvenile Matters in New Britain on March 2.

“The initiative and determination by our detective staff on this case is a testament to their professionalism and commitment to our community,” said Windsor Locks Police Chief Eric Osanitsch.