(COLORADO SPRINGS) — Newly released body camera footage shows the moment a toddler was found safe by officers after a car was stolen with the child inside on Tuesday, Jan. 20.
The harrowing incident occurred shortly before 3 p.m. on Tuesday, when dispatchers received a call that a car had been stolen with a 2-year-old inside. The car, a black 2021 Kia Seltos, was reportedly taken from the 2700 block of King Street, north of Old Colorado City on the west side of Colorado Springs.
WATCH: CSPD holds press conference on kidnapped child incident
Chief Adrian Vasquez with the Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD) said from the moment the call was received, officers were deployed to search for the vehicle and the Real Time Crime Center (RTCC) was used to provide invaluable information and visuals that helped locate the car and the child about 2 hours after the car was stolen.
CSPD’s Public Information Officer Ira Cronin said the Flock license plate cameras specifically helped officers get visuals of the actual vehicle that was sought, through images captured on the cameras days before the crime even occurred. Cronin explained that the license plate cameras routinely capture images of cars as they pass the cameras, so when investigators responding to the kidnapping case input the description of the vehicle and a partial plate from the car’s owner, police were able to immediately pull images of the actual vehicle from days prior to disseminate to officers across the city, as well as to the community and media partners, to be on the lookout…