Bogus Policeman Steals Car With Baby Inside

A mother suffered a "horrendous" 30-minute ordeal after a man posing as a police officer stole her car and drove off with her four-month-old baby inside before returning and dumping him on the street, police said on Friday.

Emma Williams, 24, was sitting with her two young sons in her car in Bolton on Thursday evening when a man wearing a police jacket approached and told her he needed her vehicle.

Believing him to be a genuine officer, she started to get out of the car when the man grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the way.

The woman managed to get two-year-old son Lewis out of the back of the car, but the offender drove off before she could get to her 19-week-old baby boy Jack.

"I didn't think I was going to see Jack again," Williams said. "I was frantic because of the speed he went off at."

Shortly afterwards the stolen car, a Lexus, was involved in a hit-and-run crash, police said.

Then, about 30 minutes after the theft, a Nissan Micra pulled up at the spot where the carjacking had taken place.

A man put the child seat with Jack inside on the pavement near to where Williams and her partner Gareth Forbes, 32, were standing. He drove off again.

"I was so relieved. He (Jack) had the biggest smile on his face. He obviously didn't realise what had been going on for the last 20 minutes," Williams said.

"I just got him out of the car seat and gave him a big hug and burst into tears."

Shortly after the incident, police said the Micra was involved in another collision. A 39-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of kidnapping and theft and is in hospital receiving treatment for leg and neck injuries.

"This was a horrendous ordeal for the family who were left absolutely distraught that their baby was taken from them," said Detective Constable Graham Clare.

"Fortunately he was returned safe and well but the time he was missing must have felt like an eternity for his parents."