Desperate parents of a nine-month-old baby who was taken by a car thief, flagged down a learner driver to give chase.
The parents had strapped their young baby into the car and the mum nipped back into the house, leaving the engine running, when the car thief struck.
The thief got behind the wheel and sped off, young baby in tow, leaving the parents “frantic with fear”.
A second child, aged seven, had been put into the car as well - but was able to jump out before the thief took off from the family home in Cabra, Dublin around 7pm on Sunday.
Luckily there was a learner driver on the road who saw the crime unfolding and the parents jumped into her car and gave chase.
Whilst they initially lost the car, they eventually caught up with the thief - however, the crook raced through a red light and “went flying over the speed ramps” leaving them behind.
The parents were distraught for their young baby and feared the worst - but they received a call to say the tot had been found safe and sound.
It appears the thief realised he had been party to an unwitting kidnapping and pulled over to deposit the baby on the roadside.
One family member spoke to the Independent.ie about the harrowing series of events.
They described how the parents were "frantic" and even raced after the thief on foot at first.
But then they turned to the learner driver whose car they jumped into to give chase.
The family member said: “But they didn’t know which way he went and it took a while to catch up with the car.
"He went through a red light somewhere and they eventually ended up in the Phoenix Park where the car sped up and went flying over the speed ramps. The learner driver couldn’t keep up.
“The young parents were terrified for their baby and thought it was still in the car.
"But then the young mother got a phone call to say the baby had been found on a road. The baby was left on the path and crying.”
Residents who witnessed the thief remove the baby from the car and dump it roadside recounted their shock.
One resident said: “There were three women chatting on the path and the next thing the car pulled up and the man just got out and took the infant from the back of the car and just left it down on the path and sped away.
"They couldn’t believe what happened and ran to the child to mind it,” said one resident who lives near to where the baby was abandoned.”
No arrests have been made and the car has not been recovered.
Luckily, the baby is believed to be unharmed.
