KEY POINTS:
Police have arrested a 43-year-old man and charged him with kidnapping after a car containing a toddler was stolen from Papakura yesterday.
Two-year-old Antoinette Katipa was sitting in the back seat of the car outside her home in Papakura, when it was stolen at 2pm yesterday.
Her uncle had left the keys in the ignition while he unloaded groceries.
Another woman who was in the car was able to escape but Antoinette was left inside.
After a search involving a helicopter and police units, the car was found abandoned 100m away outside a dairy at the intersection of Cross and Wilson Rs, Papakura, around 3.30pm. Antoinette was still in the back seat and uninjured. The car was not damaged.
Police today said a 43-year-old unemployed man had been charged with kidnapping, unlawful taking of a motor vehicle and abandoning a child under six.
He is being held in custody and will appear in the Papakura District Court on Monday February 23.
- NZHERALD STAFF
