'I was so scared,' mother says after vehicle stolen with baby inside

An Edmonton mother said she was terrified after her vehicle was stolen with her baby in the backseat.

Suzie Kaddu said she left her eight-month-old daughter in a running SUV Monday night while she and a friend went into Value Village to buy a toy.

“She had cried a lot and I didn’t want the coldness to hit her,” said Kaddu. “I was only going to stay (in the store) for five minutes.”

After they came out and realized the vehicle and the baby were missing, Kaddu said she was worried she might never see her daughter again. “I was so scared.”

But about 10 minutes after calling police, Edmonton officers located the stolen vehicle and baby at a McDonald’s parking lot.

James Bachnick, 23, faces charges, including theft.

Edmonton Sgt. Gary Willits said parents should never leave children unattended, and that more charges may be laid.

Kaddu, meanwhile, said she has learned her lesson. “I won’t advise anyone else to ever do it.”

With a report from CTV Edmonton’s Breanna Karstens-Smith

• 

  Suzie Kaddu, seen with her eight-month-old daughter Keturah, speaks about the theft of her SUV with Keturah inside with CTV Edmonton, Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2015.

• 

  A baby was reunited with her parents on Monday night after she was left in the back seat of a vehicle that was stolen from a parking lot in southeast Edmonton.