A 2-year-old child is safe and has been reunited with his family after being briefly kidnapped in a vehicle that was stolen outside a Roselle home Thursday night, acting Union County Prosecutor Lyndsay V. Ruotolo and Roselle Police Chief Brian Barnes jointly announced Friday.
According to officials, at approximately 11:30 p.m. on Thursday, Roselle Police Department units were dispatched to a home on the 300 block of White Street on a report of a stolen vehicle with a child inside, according to the preliminary investigation. Investigators learned that the vehicle’s ownerhad arrived at the home moments earlier and had been bringing items inside when the juvenile defendant took the vehicle.
Police say following a vehicular pursuit into neighboring Elizabeth that ended with a brief foot pursuit, the 16-year-old was taken into custody without incident minutes later.
The child was found unharmed on a sidewalk on the 1000 block of Oak Street in Roselle.
Officials said a juvenile complaints of second-degree kidnapping, second-degree eluding police, third-degree endangering the welfare of a child, third-degree motor vehicle theft, and fourth-degree resisting arrest have been filed against the 16-year-old defendant in this matter, whose identity is being withheld from disclosure due to his age. The juvenile defendant remains in custody pending a Superior Court hearing.
This was believed to have been an isolated incident, with no remaining threat to the community.
These juvenile complaints are mere accusations.