MOOROOPNA, VIC. — Shepparton Crime Investigation Unit detectives have charged a man after he allegedly stole a car with a sleeping toddler inside it last week.
It is alleged the man stole the vehicle from a supermarket carpark on Maude Street just before 2pm on Friday, November 14.
When he realised a 15-month-old boy was inside, he allegedly removed the child and left him in a cardboard box in the carpark.
The female victim returned and located the toddler, who was not physically injured.
Detective Acting Sergeant Andrew Costello said the woman was only in the shops “for a matter of moments” before she returned to find her boy in a box on the ground.
The man allegedly fled in the Volkswagen, which was located in Mooroopna the following day.
Police arrested the 32-year-old in central Shepparton yesterday afternoon.
The Mooroopna man has been charged with theft of a motor vehicle, reckless conduct, endangering serious injury and committing an indictable offence whilst on bail.
Detectives also charged the man with several offences in an unrelated incident in the Shepparton and Barmah areas on Monday, November 17.
Those charges include theft of a motor vehicle, dangerous driving whilst pursued by police and aggravated reckless exposure of a police officer to risk by driving.
He was remanded to appear at Shepparton Magistrates’ Court on Monday, November 24.
