Jeep stolen with infant inside

Published 9:00 pm Friday, May 13, 2005

BOTHELL – A Bothell mother’s tearful reunion with her 3-month-old baby Friday became a hard-learned lesson for the woman, who left her child in her car with the engine running when she stopped at a state liquor store.

Less than two hours after the woman’s red Jeep Cherokee was stolen with her baby in its back seat, Bothell police located the SUV and detained a man who was found in a grove of woods near the vehicle, police said.

Holly Johnson said she panicked when she left the liquor store at 19111 Bothell Way NE about 11:15 a.m. to discover the Jeep and her baby, Fiona, were gone. She said she left the engine on so the air conditioner would keep her baby cool.

The theft set off a frenzied search by Bothell police, who found the SUV about an hour and 15 minutes later, abandoned in a lot behind Trinity Orthodox Presbyterian Church at 23211 S. Meridian Ave. in Bothell. Fiona was safe inside.

“I’ve never been so happy to have spit-up on me,” Johnson said.

Standing beside his wife and Bothell police officer Brent Stuvland, who found the stolen SUV and baby, Joe Johnson offered an emotional thanks to the officers who helped find his daughter.

“Contemplating the worst that could happen was unbearable for both of us,” he said. “This has been an extremely difficult ordeal.”

Minutes after the SUV was found, police placed baby Fiona in an aid car, which drove the girl to her mother at the liquor store.

Police searched the area around the church using police dogs and located a suspect in the theft. He was questioned, but later released.

Capt. Denise Langford of the Bothell Police Department said early witness descriptions of a suspect might have been mistaken.

Investigators also focused on a second stolen vehicle they found parked on the right side of the liquor store adjacent to the space where Johnson had parked.

The blue Toyota Corolla had been reported stolen in Edmonds May 3. Langford did not know Friday if a link was established between the two stolen vehicles.

Langford said police have not yet decided whether to recommend charges against Johnson for leaving her baby in the SUV.

“I just hope every parent can learn from this,” Johnson said before going home with her baby and husband.

Noel Brady can be reached at noel.brady@kingcountyjournal.com or 425-453-4252.