Thief takes car - and 4-year-old

Rebecca Poutu did not give herself time to panic when she discovered her car had been stolen last night with her 4-year-old son still inside.

"I just tried to act as fast as possible," said Ms Poutu, who was at a medical clinic on Te Ngae Rd, Rotorua. "I ran back to the doctor's and told the receptionist to ring the police."

Ms Poutu had left her son Codi in the car with her partner Jerome Morgan while she attended an appointment with her other son, Nason.

It's believed Mr Morgan dropped the keys while he went into the clinic to see how the appointment was going.

When Mr Morgan and Nason went back outside the car was gone.

"They came running and yelling that my car was gone and my baby was in the car," said Ms Poutu.

Sergeant Mike Membery said police pulled staff from a shooting investigation to join the search for the car.

Traffic units from Taupo and Tokoroa were also brought in to check the main arterial routes in case the car was heading out of town.

While officers searched for the boy, other staff comforted the distraught family.

The car was found half an hour later in a Pak'N Save staff carpark on Fenton St, about 4km from the medical centre.

Codi was lying on the backseat, upset, but uninjured, while the car had been rifled through.

Ms Poutu had a two-hour wait at the police station before being reunited with Codi.

"I was just really shaky. I just didn't know what to think. It just wasn't real."

Ms Poutu, who praised the police's response to the situation, said Codi had slept through most of his ordeal.

"It was like he had just woken up. He was fine. I was really relieved."

Mr Membery said the incident was a good reminder to people not to leave their keys in their car, especially when there were children inside.

He said Mr Morgan had only run into the medical centre for a minute but it was enough time for an opportunistic thief to steal the car.

Mr Membery said it was possible the thief did not initially realise there was a child inside.

"But, the distance they have gone suggests they worked it out pretty quickly. Then to calmly park it where they did and then still go through the car suggests a little bit of sinisterness."

Police hope security camera footage from the supermarket will help identify the thief.