A man wanted for weeks in the carjacking of a pickup truck that had a baby inside in Dorchester earlier this month has been arrested, Boston police said Monday.
Cristofanes Mendes of Boston was arrested in Roxbury on Monday morning, police said. He was due in Boston Municipal Court Monday on charges of reckless endangerment of a child, stealing a vehicle and unlicensed driving over the kidnapping that took place on July 14 on Geneva Avenue, police said.
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WATCH HEREBoston police have said officers were called to Geneva Avenue and Leroy Street just before 3 p.m. that day for a report of a kidnapping. While responding, officers were told the victim's truck had been stolen with their infant child still inside.
The baby's parents told police that they had parked at 430 Geneva Avenue and exited the truck to tend to their 2-year-old. That's when a man jumped into their vehicle and fled towards Bowdoin Street with their infant still inside, officials have said.
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SIGN UP According to police, moments later, the driver returned to 430 Geneva Avenue and placed the baby, who was still in the car seat, on the sidewalk, before again driving off toward Bowdoin Street.
The child was reunited with the parents and evaluated by Boston EMS, police said.
About an hour later, the stolen truck was found at 156 Columbia Road, police said, but the driver was nowhere to be found.
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The incident was caught on surveillance footage, which had provided the closest look at the driver as he sits on a bike just before the carjacking.
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