Before the eyes of educators, parents and children, a thief stole the car of a mother who was dropping off her child at a daycare in western Montreal, a few meters from her door. What he didn’t know was that a seven-month-old baby was in the back seat.

“Everyone was screaming. Everyone immediately thought of the baby,” said Maria Florkow, director of Éducaction daycare, located on Alexander Street in Pierrefonds-Roxboro. “I was in shock, like everyone else. I hoped it was a thief, and not someone who wanted to kidnap the child. »

Fortunately, the child was found safe and sound on a nearby street. The suspect is still actively sought. “The thief would have quickly realized the presence of the child in the back seat of the vehicle and would have abandoned him on a sidewalk,” explained agent Sabrina Gauthier, spokesperson for the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM ).

Barely ten meters separate the parking spaces as well as the outdoor play area, in front of which the educators welcome the children in the morning.

“The mom had just gotten out of her car,” Florkow said.

Around her were around thirty people, including children, but also several adults, according to the director.

A father who also came to carry his child was the first to shout when the individual entered the vehicle, while it was parked nearby.

“He even tried to stop her,” Florkow said. He immediately thought of the baby, it’s a small community here, everyone knows each other. »

The child was reportedly found in his shell on Bonny Street, adjacent to the building housing the daycare. It was a lady and her son who lived in the neighborhood who told him they had discovered the child.

The police apparently arrived at almost the same time. Around 8:15 a.m., a call was made to 911 regarding the theft of the Mazda 3 in Pierrefonds-Roxboro, on Alexander Street. The baby, who had not suffered any injuries, was quickly returned to his mother’s arms, still in a state of shock at the time.

“There were the parents, the whole team outside, and cameras right next door! », laments Ms. Florkow, visibly shaken by the situation.

After the collision, which caused him to have a flat tire, he fled on foot, leaving the car in the middle of St-Urbain Street.

For the director of Éducaction, this is the perfect opportunity to raise awareness.

“That’s the time people drop the kids off. We think that car thefts happen in the evening when no one is looking… But there were around thirty people here,” she recalls.

On January 18, a similar event occurred in Montreal North, when a man left his children aged 3 and 11 in his SUV while he ran an errand. The suspect had dropped the children off very close to the scene of the theft, which allowed them to return home on foot.

“[The thief] must have really planned his move in advance,” said the daycare director.

The investigation, still ongoing, has not yet led to any arrests. For the moment, no description of the individual or the motives for the theft have been provided by the SPVM.