A man stole a car. He didn't realize there was a 2-year-old in the back seat

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – A man stole a vehicle from a South Dakota convenience store Monday morning, not knowing that a 2-year-old was strapped into the back seat, police say.

Graylin Bryant Tanner, 36, a transient, stole the vehicle around 8 a.m. Monday from a gas station, said Sioux Falls police spokesman Sam Clemens.

Tanner drove away with the vehicle shortly after the toddler's mother left the car unlocked and running in the parking lot to make a purchase inside the store, Clemens said.

Police used the mother's cellphone that was left in the vehicle to find its location, Clemens said. Officers found the vehicle around 8:15 a.m., but the child was no longer in the vehicle. Tanner told police that after realizing the child was in the vehicle, he dropped her off in her car seat outside of a laundromat.

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Police found the child still sitting outside of the laundromat around 8:20 a.m. Clemens said the 2-year-old was not harmed, but he didn't know if anyone was called to check in on her condition.

Clemens said it's common for vehicles to get stolen or items to get stolen from vehicles when owners leave the doors unlocked.

"Lock your car, don't leave your kids in your car unattended – even if you're going to be in the store for five minutes," Clemens said. "You just never know what's going to happen in that amount of time."

Tanner was arrested for second-degree burglary, grand theft and felony child abuse, Clemens said.

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This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: South Dakota man Graylin Bryant Tanner steals car with toddler in it