BURLINGTON, N.C. (WGHP) — Police are investigating after a car with two young children inside was stolen from a Piedmont Triad Sheetz.
Burlington Police Department says that a man called 911 on Christmas Day to report his vehicle had been stolen from the Sheetz on Alamance Road with his two toddler-aged children inside.
Police determined the direction the suspect had gone and found the vehicle abandoned in a ditch on Trail Four about a mile away. The kids were not hurt and reunited with their father.
They were able to get surveillance video and are looking for assistance from the community in identifying him. He was seen in a striped toboggan and a dark hoodie and was believed to be driving a silver Hyundai before the theft.
The father Quinton Spencer told FOX8 he left the car running and unlocked with his two kids in it in the parking lot while he went inside to check and see if their food was ready. He came back out to check on them, and everything was fine. Spencer said he turned away for a split second, and that’s when his world stopped.
“I turned around and realized the man was jumping in my car, so I approached the car with force tried to break the glass, and the glass didn’t break, so I jumped on the car, and he took me for a ride around the Home Depot,” Spencer said. “The only thing that I could think of was, ‘Give me my kids.’ I was screaming that to him the whole time.”
What was supposed to be a happy holiday turned into a nightmare for Spencer. He watched as someone took his car with his three-year-old and one year old children inside from the Sheetz parking lot 11:30 p.m. on Christmas.
“I literally tried to run and chase the car,” he said.
When he couldn’t keep up, he called 911.
“I ran in the Sheetz to grab my food, and I came back out to check on my car, and my kids was in the car,” Spencer told the dispatcher. “It’s a black Audi. My baby girl and my son is in the car”
Burlington police found the abandoned car a short time later on Trail Four with the one-year-old inside and the three-year-old wandering outside both unharmed.
Officers used K9s to track the suspect’s scent but haven’t been able to locate him yet.
“We do believe they live somewhere in the area, but the reason the car was left there was because they struck a mailbox and lost control of the car,” said Lt. Lori Catoe with the BPD.
Quinton isn’t worried about the damage.
“I’m over and beyond lucky,” he said. “That’s the only thing I was thinking of the whole time. Like I didn’t even care about the car.”
This dad is thankful things didn’t turn out worse and will think twice before leaving his kids in the car again.
“It only takes a second to make one mistake, and your whole life can change,” he said. “Next time I go to a gas station, my kids ain’t going to be with me. And if they are, I don’t care if it’s raining cats and dogs outside, we all going to get wet. There’s no other way around it. I don’t care how hot it is, how cold it is, how the wind is blowing the rain, we all getting out the car.”
Sheetz released the following statement:
We are saddened by the incident that took place at our location along Alamance Road in Burlington, NC. The safety of our customers and employees at Sheetz is a top priority in every community we serve. As such, we highly recommend customers do not leave vehicles running, unlocked and unattended as they enter our stores. Ensuring vehicles are locked at all times is a critical safety measure to prevent theft or unauthorized access. We are currently working with the Burlington Police Department to investigate this matter and will do whatever we can to assist with this ongoing investigation.
PR Manager for Sheetz Nick Ruffner
