WARDEN, Wash. — A woman was arrested in Warden, Washington on Wednesday for allegedly stealing a car with a baby in the backseat around 10:30 a.m.
The Grant County Sheriff's Office (GCSO) says they responded to calls about a stolen car from Main Street in Warden. The caller also reported that a 2-month-old was inside the car.
GCSO says police were able to use traffic cameras to find where the car was on Road U-Southeast.
About 15 minutes later and 12 miles away, another caller reported a car driving all over the road and in and out of the ditch near Road 3-Northeast and Road S-Northeast in rural Moses Lake.
A Deputy who was responding to the original call found the stolen car stopped in the middle of Road 3-Northeast between Road S-Northeast and Road T-Northeast. The Deputy took the suspect, 21-year-old Rita Gabriella Lozano, into custody. The infant was not harmed and was reunited safely with their family.
GCSO says that Lozano was handcuffed and placed into the back of a police car. GCSO says that Lozano was able to crawl from the back seat into the front seat of the police car and drive away. The road was closed for roughly one hour while officers attempted to stop Lozano.
The patrol car was stopped about one-half mile away when two Sheriff’s Deputies used their vehicles to pin the stolen police car.
Lozano was then taken into custody a second time and transported by ambulance to Samaritan Healthcare in Moses Lake for a medical evaluation as deputies believed she was under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Lozano is now in the Grant County Jail.
GCSO says one deputy suffered minor injuries during the incident and three police cars were damaged.
Lozano faces charges including kidnapping, DUI and theft of a motor vehicle.