Teen charged in auto theft, kidnapping

Jace Radke

Friday, Jan. 28, 2000 | 11:31 a.m.

A Las Vegas mother's nightmare came to an end two hours after it began Thursday night when police located her stolen minivan and her missing 6-month-old daughter.

A massive search by Metro Police and Clark County School District Police started shortly after 5:15 p.m. when a Ford Aerostar with the baby and her 4-year-old sister inside was stolen from in front of Ullom Elementary School near Nellis Boulevard and Tropicana Avenue.

Two hours later both children and the van had been found within blocks of the school and reunited with their mother.

A 16-year-old boy was arrested and charged with grand larceny and kidnapping in what police called a strange situation.

"It was just a very bizarre strange thing to happen, and we haven't seen anything like it here before," Metro spokesman Steve Meriwether said. "It's like something you'd see in a movie."

The mother had parked in front of the school at 4869 Sun Valley Dr., leaving the keys and two of her daughters inside as she ran in to pick up her 7-year-old daughter from an after-school program, Meriwether said.

"She was only gone for a matter of seconds," Meriwether said.

When she came back with her 7-year-old, the van and children were missing, and she called police, Meriwether said.

Police flooded the area around the school stationing themselves at major intersections. Other officers patrolled the neighborhood's streets on bicycles, and some went door to door near the school asking if residents had seen anything.

One resident, who works as a security guard for the school district, said he told police he had seen the 16-year-old boy earlier in the afternoon.

"I saw him walking around at about 4:30 p.m.," the man said. "He'd be hanging out down at the corner of Sun Valley and Nellis and then would walk back up near the school. It was very suspicious. He was kind of watching the school."

At about 6:15 p.m. the missing 4-year-old girl was found near Harmon Avenue and Glen Davis Drive by a citizen who called police.

An hour later a patrol car stopped the van in the 5100 block of Billman Avenue, just east of the school. Inside was the baby, the 16-year-old boy and an 18-year-old girl, whom police took into custody for questioning, but did not charge with a crime.

"It came over the radio that the baby was OK and everyone at the command post (in the school) just said, 'Thank God,' " Meriwether said. "The mother was ecstatic to see her baby, but she was extremely drained emotionally. It was very traumatic for her."

The baby's parents and her sisters were reunited in front of a Mormon church on Billman, where the mother held the baby close to her while she sat on a small block wall.

After a quick check of the stolen van by police, the family got inside and was escorted by police to their home.

Police are unsure if the 18-year-old girl got into the van at the elementary school with the 16-year-old boy or if she was picked up later.

"It looks like they were just driving around the neighborhood," Meriwether said. "The 18-year-old was riding in the back seat with the baby. They knew she was in the van."

Candy Hollenbeck, who lives on Billman close to where the van was stopped, said she wouldn't leave her children in a car with the keys and that it was scary to think someone would drive off with the children.

"My children are all grown, but this would be my worst nightmare," Hollenbeck said. "It's great that they found them and that the police were on the ball on this."