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Alex Cabrero reporting This afternoon a thief got quite a surprise. The car he took from a Salt Lake gas station had 5-year-old Jonathan Martinez in the backseat.
The thief probably didn't realize the child was in the car at first, because he dropped him off a block later. Still the child's mother and some witnesses are mad at police.
Veronica Salazar, Child's Mother: "Very scared. I was very scared."
His mother, Veronica Salazar, said she had just left him in the running car for a minute as she went inside this Tesoro gas station.
When she came out, both were gone.
Veronica Salazar, Child's Mother: "I told a person to call the police because my son was inside the car."
Fortunately, whoever stole the car, stopped about a block later and let Jonathan out.
What makes Salazar and witnesses really mad, is how they say police reacted when they called them.
Robert Larsen, Witness: "They said is the child okay, is he back? I said yes, and they said we'll get back to you when we can. We're backlogged. It's not a priority."
They stopped an officer, but he told them he had to go to another call.
Veronica Salazar, Child's Mother: "Pretty upset. I can't believe it."
But police say they had nine other calls at the time and had to prioritize them. Since the child was okay, the call wasn't considered a high priority.
Lt. Craig Gleason, Salt Lake City Police Dept.: "Who couldn't feel for a parent in this situation? We're just glad he's okay, and we understand the emotional overload, but what we have here right now is a stolen car investigation."
