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SALT LAKE CITY — A man who police say stole a vehicle with a 1-year-old child inside it Saturday was identified Monday.
Salt Lake police said Arturo Alvarez, 21, was arrested on suspicion of kidnapping, vehicle theft and fleeing from police, as well as on unrelated outstanding warrants.
Officials said they were still trying to figure out if Alvarez intended to take the child.
Police accuse Alvarez of carjacking a vehicle Saturday night near 800 South and 900 West.
The owner of the vehicle had left the child inside her vehicle while she went to knock on the door of a residence in the area, Salt Lake Police Lt. Robin Heiden said. That’s when a man jumped into her vehicle and drove off with the child inside the car.
The child was located safely at Intermountain Medical Center in Murray about 30 minutes later after a man had dropped the boy off. The mother of the child was reunited with the boy at the hospital.
Later in the night, officers spotted the stolen vehicle near 3300 South and West Temple which led to a brief pursuit that ended when the vehicle crashed into the median in the middle of the road near 700 West.
Alvarez was taken to a hospital in good condition after the crash and remained there Sunday. He will be booked into Salt Lake County Jail upon his release from the hospital.
Court records show Alvarez was charged with burglary of a vehicle and theft in 2015.
Contributing: Caitlin Burchill
