CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A man is behind bars, accused of stealing a woman's car Thursday night with her 2-year-old son inside.
D'Jerry Cassamajor faces several charges, including larceny of a motor vehicle, child abuse and kidnapping.
Police said Cassamajor stole the woman’s Hyundai Santa Fe after she left it running and walked into the Super Wok restaurant to order food on West Sugar Creek Road and Rockwell Church Road in north Charlotte.
After realizing her car and child were gone, the woman called her friends, then 911.
“I seen a lady out there yelling and I caught the tail end of a car leaving,” a witness said. “She was worried like any mother should be.”
Officers said after speeding off, Cassamajor wrecked a few blocks away, leaving the toddler in the snow.
Family members were already rushing to the crash scene and ultimately helped police make the arrest by holding Cassamajor down until officers arrived.
“As soon as we came down the street right here, he jumped out and we started chasing,” one family member told Channel 9. “I said, ‘We're going to catch him.’ I was determined to not let him get away.”
The Department of Social Services has been notified due to the fact that the child had been left in the car unattended.
“You don’t ever expect that to happen, but of course, you jump into to action mode because you think, ‘What if that was my child?’” a family member said.
Cassamajor is expected to face a judge for the first time on Monday.
The little boy was not hurt.