NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – A man is in custody after he reportedly stole a car with a child inside on Sunday in South Nashville.
Michael Cook, 42, was arrested after Metro police said he stole a car outside a Shell station in the 800 block of Murfreesboro Pike.
Metro police said the driver’s 10-year-old daughter was in the backseat when Cook allegedly took their 2005 Dodge Stratus that was left unlocked with the motor running around 7 a.m.
A 41-year-old mother left her 10-year-old daughter in the backseat of the car while she went inside the market to pay for gas, according to Metro police.
She looked out of the store window to see someone driving away in her car with her daughter, according to a release.
Metro police reported Cook then pulled into the Shell Market at 601 Fesslers Lane and left the girl unharmed with store clerks before driving away in the Dodge.
Investigators worked with the mother to track down the vehicle, which was found parked in Clarksville on Kraft Street.
Cook was found three blocks away with the key to the vehicle in his pocket, said Metro police.
He was returned to Nashville where he admitted to detectives he took the car with the girl inside. He was jailed on a $56,000 bond.
Metro police advised citizens again to not walk away from their cars with the keys inside.