Suspect who stole car with baby inside accused of same crime 6 other times
MOTT HAVEN, Bronx (WABC) -- The man accused of stealing a car in the Bronx with a 6-month-old baby inside faced a judge on Monday.
The child was found unharmed in the car a short time later, but it turns out Victor Matos has been arrested in similar crimes at least half a dozen times.
Eyewitness News was there when the child was reunited with his family roughly two hours and a mile and a half away from a bakery in the Bronx on Sunday.
A relative said it happened around 11:30 a.m. on East 146th Street.
"We went to get the coffee because we had placed the order, so it was already done, came to get it, by the time I came out it was gone," the relative, who did not wish to be identified, said.
Police say Matos was also in the bakery, walked out, got into the minivan which was running, and drove away.
Roughly 10 minutes later, the mother came outside and quickly realized her car and little boy were gone.
Officers found the suspect in Hunts Point and the little boy was not hurt.
Prosecutors say Matos told police he was driving away, heard a sound and got nervous because there was a kid inside.
But authorities stressed at no point, knowing a baby was in the backseat, did Matos pull over and call 911.
Matos has been arrested for allegedly stealing a car at least six times and his parole officers said in court Monday that the defendant goes missing whenever he gets the chance.
The judge called Matos' record "abysmal" and set bail at $100,000.
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