Child inside stolen car safely returned to Pierce County father

A car stolen in Pierce County with a 3-year-old inside has been recovered and the child is safe.

Police say a silver Mazda, with the child in the back seat, was running in the driveway of a South Hill man’s home on 93rd Avenue East when it was stolen Wednesday morning.

The Pierce County Sheriff’s Department said the father had put his 3-year-old daughter in the back seat, and then went inside his home to get his second child when the car was stolen.

The father called 911 at 6:56 a.m.  Police said that at the same time, a witness called 911 to report that a silver Mazda had crashed at a nearby Walgreens on Meridian, and a child was in the car.

Deputies at the crash scene said the child was found unhurt and was reunited with her father.

Ed Troyer with the sheriff’s department said the incident lasted only a few minutes.

Searches were conducted with a K-9 and a helicopter, but the suspect was not found. Police said a witness reported seeing black man wearing beanie run from the stolen car after the crash.

Deputies are checking to see if nearby businesses have surveillance video.