Father chases robbers who stole car with infant inside

ST. PETERSBURG — Police have recovered a stolen gray Acura and an 11-month-old child who was riding in the backseat as the child's father attempted to chase the thieves through Woodlawn this morning.

The car was stolen from a house at 2415 11th St. N, according to St. Petersburg Fire Rescue's Lt. Joel Granata. The baby was left on the doorstep of a house at 2834 24th St. N. Residents of the house called police and the baby was returned to the parents.

St. Petersburg police Sgt. David Barr said the Acura was abandoned near the house where the baby was found, and two subjects appeared to run through a hole in a fence. Police detained them for questioning, and the baby's father identified them as standing nearby as he was chasing the stolen car, police said. They are ages 20 and 16, but their names have not been released.

The baby's mother, Kara Lane, 24, said she was preparing to take her children to daycare when she put her son in the backseat of the car, which was parked outside their front door.

DeAngelo Jr. was in his carseat, she said, and she went back inside to get his diaper bag and her two daughters, ages 3 and 4. As she walked inside, she saw a reflection of the car backing out through a window.

At first, she thought the car had slipped somehow into neutral or reverse. Then she saw the figure in the driver's seat.

"I begged him to stop," she said.

"My baby is in the backseat!" she screamed over and over.

She said the driver, a young man, ignored her and started to drive away.

By this time, her boyfriend had come out of the house and started running after the car.

DeAngelo Woods, 24, caught up with them down the street, yanked open a door and yelled, "My son is in there!"

However, the thief sped off anyway.

Woods ran back home, jumped into a black Infiniti, and took after the Acura.

Meanwhile, Lane then flagged down a police officer — who was in the area investigating a call about three suspicious teens in the neighborhood — about 10 a.m. The officer sped off after the baby and the stolen car.

The officer lost track of the Acura and the Infiniti. He later pulled over Woods and asked him to return home.

About 10:14 a.m. there were reports of gunshots near Lane's home.

At 10:42 a.m., the people who found the baby called police.

Minutes later, an ambulance crew checked out the baby and reunited him with his parents.

"He was calm, he was fine," Lane said. "He just wanted a bottle."

Lane, a self-employed wholesale distributor, continued to replay the incident in her mind. She said she was so worried that he would be hurt in a high-speed chase, because while he was in a carseat, she hadn't yet belted in the seat.

"I was 10 feet away from my baby," she said. "Ten feet away. And I couldn't save him."