HOQUIAM, Wash. — Bystanders helped police quickly apprehend a kidnapping suspect in Hoquiam Monday morning.
A woman called the Hoquiam Police Department around 8:43 a.m. to report that a man drove off with her minivan while her two children were inside.
The woman was dropping some paperwork off at a friend's house and had left her children in the car because they were sleeping. The car was left running with the air conditioning on. While the woman was inside her friend's house a man she didn't know got into her car and drove away, according to the Hoquiam Police Department.
The Grays Harbor County Scanner posted information about the incident online. Two people who read the description of the van spotted it at a nearby gas station - with two children inside - called 911, according to the police department.
Cosmopolis Police Chief Heath Lyman was on the scene less than a minute later. The suspect ran off and Lyman went to check that the children were safe in the van.
Aberdeen Detective Sgt. Gary Sexton arrived a few seconds later and pursued the suspect on foot, eventually catching up to him and taking him into custody with the help of Lyman and another Aberdeen officer.
The suspect, identified as a 34-year-old man, is currently being held at Hoquiam City Jail for possible charges of kidnapping and theft of a motor vehicle. The circumstances surrounding the incident are still under investigation.
Download our free KING 5 app to stay up-to-date on news stories from across western Washington.
