Van Hijacked At Pike Place Market
The victim told police that her 33-year-old son with cerebral palsy was in the back seat when the van was taken.
Carol Bertrand was up here from Portland taking her son to the University of Washington Medical Center for an evaluation. She stopped at the Pike Place Market to pick up some flowers.
She said she left the keys in the car so her son could listen to music. Meanwhile, a woman came up to the passenger side window, peeked inside, made a rude gesture to the son inside the car, then came around to the driver's side, hopped in, and drove off.
Bertrand came out of the flower shop to see her car being driven away and was absolutely frantic.
"I've never been so scared in my life," she said.
She alerted both nearby security and police, who put out a bulletin.
Another man, listening to the radio, saw the van on Beacon Hill and called police. He stayed on the phone with police and followed the van at a safe distance until it parked at a Beacon Hill apartment complex. The woman then got out and entered the apartment.
The man waited until police arrived a short time later and took the suspect into custody -- the son was able to tell police that she was the person who took the van. The son also said the woman never said a word the entire time she was driving.
The man is OK. Police are still investigating why the woman would want to have taken the van. They say she's a transient in her 30s and she faces kidnapping charges.