STOWE TOWNSHIP, Pa. — A close call for a local mom after a man jumped into her car while her kids were in the back seat.
It happened Friday morning in Stowe Township.
Maria Sanchez spoke exclusively with Channel 11. She says she had just gotten her kids in the car and realized she’d forgotten her wallet.
She ran inside for just a few seconds.
“I saw this guy coming down, trying to open my door. I was like ‘Hey, hey, hey! What are you doing? Where are you going?’” she said.
She captured the exchange on video.
You can see the man, now identified as Michael Harris, opening the door and getting in the driver’s seat.
Sanchez says he tried to start the car, but she had the key fob with her.
“That saved me and my kids,” she said.
Her kids were still inside the car and couldn’t get out because of a child lock. Eventually, Maria was able to open the back door.
“I opened the door and said ‘Run, run, run!’ They were so fast to get out of the car and they went straight to the house.”
While this was going on, she dialed 9-1-1. At that point, she says Harris tried getting into her house, but her kids had locked the front door.
He then ran into his house across the street. That’s where the police found and arrested him.
Throughout the whole ordeal, Sanchez says he didn’t say a word.
“He was just laughing. He laughed the whole time.”
Sanchez, who is a single mom, told Channel 11 she never expected to have to worry about her kids right in front of her house. It’s a lesson she learned the hard way.
“Never leave your kids inside, even if you go back into the house for a second. Never. Never. Never.”
Harris faces a number of charges, including attempted kidnapping.
According to police, Harris later asked about the kids, saying he wanted to “have an orgy with children.”
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