High Point, N.C. — Two teens have been arrested after police say they stole a car with a baby inside.
High Point Police say on Sunday around 12:40 p.m. off Brentwood Street at the Brentwood Crossing apartments, mom Brittany Jacobs went outside to load her car and place her 9-month-old child in a car seat.
Jacobs then realized she needed something inside her home. But during the short time she walked away from her car, some teenagers stole it with her baby inside.
“I couldn’t imagine, I’d be freaking out, I don’t know what I would do, but I am glad that prayer does work and that everything is okay for her,” said a neighbor who asked to remain anonymous.
The neighbor says she just moved to the complex with her three children two weeks ago.
“It’s been quiet, peaceful, me and my kids, we stay to ourselves.”
High Point officers say the suspects abandoned Jacobs’ car not too far from her home.
“It was unoccupied by the suspects, but still occupied with the child who was unharmed,” said Captain Patrick O’Toole with the High Point Police Department.
But they say just like Jacobs, we all get distracted.
“We all forgot our cup of coffee in the house or forgot our purse or wallet and ran back in the house with the vehicle running in our driveway,” O’Toole said.
High Point Police say it’s not just smash and grab cases, criminals are circulating neighborhoods and pulling on car door handles that are unlocked.
That’s why they say always lock your car and take with you all valuable items inside.
“We’re seeing vehicles with keys left inside, garage door openers left inside, stuff that makes access to other vehicles or the house readily available to the bad guys,” O’Toole said.
And juvenile crime is still on the rise. Since 2021, there have been 26 juveniles ages 13 through 17 who have been arrested for stolen motor vehicles.
“We’re seeing an increase in vehicle theft by juveniles taking the vehicles and going and either using them for whatever means they want or committing other crimes,” O’Toole adds.
“I feel like if you kind of live somewhere, stay to yourself, be aware of your surroundings, you’ll be okay,” the neighbor said.
We did see Brittany Jacobs carrying her baby to the car for the first time after the abduction.
Off camera, she says it was a mistake, but she’s so grateful her child is not hurt.
Two teeangers have been charged with motor vehicle theft and second degree kidnapping. They were being held at the Juvenile Detention in Greensboro.