A trip to 7-Eleven turned into a nightmare for a Las Vegas mother after a man stole her car and kidnapped her children inside.
Thanks to her brave 9-year-old daughter, Karen Quinn’s children are safe with their mother again.
The girl was able to convince the man to pull over and let her out so she could walk back to the store with her 11-month-old baby brother in her arms.
Quinn and her children were at a 7-Eleven near a North Las Vegas Airport around 8:30 p.m. when she parked her car to use the ATM.
She pulled in front of the store and left her kids inside the car with her engine running.
She locked the door and went inside the store. She caught a very negative vibe from the suspect when they made eye contact.
She then saw him walk over to her car and look inside, which prompted her to confront him.
Quinn told FOX5 News:
“He opened the [car] door, and I tried to grab him, and I grabbed his sweater in the door, and he reversed and kind of rolled over the top of my foot. And I was like, ‘Please, my kids are in the car! Please! My kids are in the car!’”
The mom continued:
“He looked back at my daughter. She was like, ‘Mom! Mom!’ And I was like, ‘Please just let them out, you can have the car. Just let them out, let them out!’”
But the man refused. He drove off with her children causing Quinn to chase her children on foot.
“I chased after the car until I couldn’t anymore,” said Quinn, a mother of five.
The little girl inside the car pleaded with the man to let her go.
“I said, ‘Please, sir. Please can you let us out the car? I don’t got nothing to do with this. Please just take the car and let us go,'” the little girl told FOX 5 Las Vegas.
Eventually, the man pulled over and let the children out of the car.
The 9-year-old ran five blocks back to the store barefoot while holding the 11-month-old.
The little girl explained:
“The only thing I was worried about was my little brother. And so I tried to grab my shoes, and he didn’t let me. He was like, ‘Here, get out.’ So I grabbed his binky and me and him ran.”
Quinn said she dropped to the floor when she learned that her children were safe.
An officer later spotted the stolen car and was able to pursue the suspect until he crashed into another car near the intersection of I-15 and Charleston.
Thankfully, the person in the other car only suffered from minor injuries and was taken to a local hospital.
The suspect tried to flee on foot but was caught by police.
Mario Estrada, 38, faces charges of kidnapping, child abuse, and grand larceny.
He was also driving with a suspended license. The children were thankfully unharmed but were physically sore and very upset after the incident.
A GoFundMe has been started for the family to help them buy a new car for the one that was lost in the incident. Quinn was also injured after chasing after the car.
Watch the two videos below to see an interview with the mom and one with the heroic little girl!
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Source: FOX5 Las Vegas, FOX5 Las Vegas, WSAZ News Channel 3
