Jul 15, 2009 7:35 am US/Pacific
Cops Hunt For Carjacker Who Prompted Amber Alert
4-Year-Old Noel Vasquez And Sheryl Lynn Vasquez, 2, Were Found Safe
NORWALK, Calif.
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The children in a car stolen in Norwalk were found safe a few hours later.
CBS
A search was under way Tuesday for the suspect, who carjacked a vehicle with two young children inside from a parking lot outside a Norwalk cleaning business, prompting officials to issue an Amber Alert Monday until the children were safely found.
Noel Vasquez, 4, and his 2-year-old sister, Sheryl Lynn Vasquez, were sitting inside the Toyota Scion when it was stolen from outside the business at 14414 Pioneer Blvd. at around 3:45 p.m. Tuesday, according to Capt. Patrick Maxwell of the Norwalk Sheriff's Station.
The children's father left his children secured in the back seat with the keys in the ignition and the engine running while he went into the cleaners, Deputy Lillian Peck of the Sheriff's Headquarters Building said.
When he returned some two minutes later, the van and his children were gone, Peck said.
Maxwell said it was unclear if the suspect knew that there were two children were in the back seat of the 2005 dark blue van with dark tinted windows.
Deputies from the Sheriff's Compton Station later found the children unharmed inside the vehicle at a gas station at Atlantic Boulevard and Rosecrans Avenue in Compton about 6:30 p.m., Peck said.
The suspect, who remained at large, was described as a Latino male with a shaved head. He was wearing a white T-shirt and dark shorts, and may have also been wearing a black beanie cap. His exact age was not known.
The Sheriff's Norwalk Station urged anyone with information on the suspect's whereabouts to call (562) 863-8711.
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)
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