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SALT LAKE CITY — A Salt Lake City mother experienced panic and fear Monday after her car was stolen with her 8-month-old baby asleep in the car seat.
It happened around 2 p.m. just west of downtown on Monday. But it ended miles away at the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office.
Erika Medina was picking up her kids from their grandparent's place, where she left the car running with her sleeping baby inside. The door is just feet from where she was parked in the mobile home park.
"As soon as I turned around, somebody got into my car," Medina said.
Salt Lake City police said that person was 29-year-old Dimitri Saliba. Medina called 911 seconds later and law enforcement officers worked fast.
"This was an all-hands-on-deck situation," said Brent Weisberg, spokesman for Salt Lake City Police Department. "This was one of those calls where we didn't know what the outcome was going to be."
The emotions of a mother
Medina says she was in hysterics.
"I was like a crazy lady, screaming everywhere, 'My daughter, my daughter,'" Medina said.
Weisberg said within 20 minutes of stealing the car, the man pulled up to the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office, took the baby girl out and handed her to a man. Police believe he thought the person was a bystander, but he was, in fact, an off-duty officer. According to police, Saliba then said he had stolen the car.
"That's when the sheriff's deputy, while holding the baby, jumped into action and took the suspect into custody," Weisberg said. "Just a remarkable action."
Medina said it's a day she will never forget.
"It was the worst feeling ever," says Medina. "I wouldn't wish it on anybody."
As for Saliba, he was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail for investigation of felony auto theft charges. Even so, police said he had the decency to do the "right thing" when he realized he had taken a car with a baby inside.
That off-duty officer doesn't want to be identified. Medina said she will be forever grateful to him.
