Police: 4-year-old passenger unhurt in carjacking, chase

MISSION — A trip to return rental movies turned into a nightmare for a woman after her vehicle was stolen with her 4-year-old son inside.

Despite the woman’s frantic efforts to rescue her child, a 13-year-old boy drove off and then led police on a high-speed chase that ended in a car wreck. Mission police arrested the teenager and rescued the child, who was unhurt.

The tense moments began about 8 p.m. Sunday in the parking lot of the Walgreens at Shary Road and Farm-to-Market Road 495 when the woman went to return a movie at the Redbox movie machine, said Cpl. Manuel Casas, Mission police spokesman.

The woman parked her Toyota RAV-4 and was in the process of returning the movies when she heard her car door open and close and then saw a figure in the driver’s seat, Casas said. 

“The mother jumped on the hood of the vehicle and yelled for the teen to let her get her baby out,” the spokesman said.

The teen put the vehicle in gear and tried to drive off, knocking the woman onto the pavement. He then sped away, grazing her with the vehicle.

Witnesses called 9-1-1, and a bulletin was sent out to all available units.

A Mission police officer saw the vehicle near the intersection of FM 495 and Conway Road and tried to stop it, but a chase ensued with the vehicle heading west along FM 495. 

The chase continued to the Palmview city limits, when the vehicle turned south, heading to Expressway 83 and then west along the expressway.

The chase continued to the area outside the Walmart at 1705 Expressway 83 in Peñitas, where the teen tried to make a left turn but went wide and sideswiped a telephone pole with the passenger side, blowing out one of the front tires. The vehicle continued toward the center median, where it finally stopped. The teen then jumped out and tried to run toward an open field, only to be detained by police officers 25 yards away, authorities said.

Both the teen and the 4-year-old were checked out by emergency responders. The teen was taken into custody, and the 4-year-old was reunited with his parents.

Throughout the chase, the young boy had been strapped into the child safety seat.

The teenager was charged by a Mission municipal judge with one count of robbery, one count of unauthorized use of motor vehicle, one count of evading arrest on a vehicle, one count of evading arrest on foot and one count of child endangerment. The teen was taken to a juvenile detention center.

“Our officers did all they could to rescue the boy,” Casas said. “Any time there is a chase, there is a danger. However, in this case, it was justified because the life of a boy was at stake.”

Parents need to be aware that leaving a child unattended in a vehicle is not only reckless, it is also against the law, the spokesman said, adding that depending on the circumstances, parents can get arrested, and if the child is hurt, they can also face child endangerment charges.

Casas said charges will not be filed against the mother, but police are working to get surveillance video from Walgreens to see whether anyone else was involved in the incident.

“We are glad we were able to get this child back to his family,” Casas said. “We are glad no one was hurt.”

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Ildefonso Ortiz covers law enforcement and general assignments for The Monitor. He can be reached at iortiz@themonitor.com and (956) 683-4437.

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