Georgia Police Rescue 2-Year-Old From Stolen Car in High-Speed Recovery

A Georgia mother’s vehicle was stolen with her toddler in the back seat on July 30 around 4:36 p.m. while she completed an Instacart delivery in Atlanta. Body camera footage and 911 audio released by the Atlanta Police Department document the frantic response as officers located the child and apprehended the suspect in under 15 minutes.

The distressed mother reported to a 911 dispatcher that her running car with her 2-year-old daughter inside had vanished from the delivery location. Officers from the department’s Auto Crimes Enforcement Unit immediately launched a search, utilizing the city’s automated license plate reader system to track the vehicle’s location and identify the child’s whereabouts.

Police body camera video shows officers surrounding the stolen vehicle and commanding the driver to exit with his hands visible. The footage captures officers removing the suspect from the car as the young child cries nearby and her mother provides reassurance.

Investigators identified the suspect as 21-year-old Saleem Martin, who was taken into custody at the scene. Authorities determined the toddler suffered no physical harm and was reunited with her parents.

Martin faces charges including kidnapping, theft by taking, simple battery, vehicle entry, cruelty to children, and criminal attempt to commit a felony. Court documents indicate the child’s dress was partially unbuttoned, and the child told her mother the driver had done this, according to an arrest warrant reviewed by local media.

Martin told investigators he was attempting to reach New Jersey and claimed he touched the child to calm her. He also allegedly discarded an iPad from the vehicle, believing it could be used to track him. The Atlanta Police Department’s Special Victims Unit assumed responsibility for the ongoing investigation.