News

Shoplifters steal stroller but leave baby behind

MIDDLETOWN, N.J. — A shoplifting incident took a troubling turn recently in New Jersey. Police said three women participated in the crime and they made a mistake that helped authorities track two of them down.

One of them walked in with a child and left them in the store after committing the crime.

The owner of Bambi Baby shared his surveillance video with WCBS, which showed the three women as they walked in with three children just after 5 p.m. Friday.

TRENDING NOW:

One of the women spent several minutes attempting to collapse a stroller before leaving with it, but she accidentally left behind the one thing she came in with: a child.

"What I take major offense to, is the children. Don't do that with your children. If you need to steal for a living that's a personal problem, personal issue, when you bring children that have no idea what's going on. That affected me," said store owner Enelio Ortega.

Ortega said almost six minutes went by before one of the women returned for the young child.

The store manager, Justin, said shoplifting is rare there, "We haven't had any issues here at this store. I was like, devastated that someone would leave their child in a store to worry more about stealing a stroller."

What makes this even stranger, the shoplifters were from England and stole an English stroller that would've been cheaper to buy overseas.

"It's only a $300 stroller. She could've taken a $1000 stroller that was right next to it. So I don't know what the real intentions were," said Ortega.

He speculates she may have chosen the collapsible one so she could bring it on an airplane.

Police were able to track down two of the three women, Maryann Cash, 23, and Nan McCarthy, 20.