JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Police identify the 28-year-old man accused of stealing a car with a 10-year-old boy inside from a Southside gas station Tuesday afternoon.
According to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, James Meyer was arrested early Wednesday morning during a unrelated home and vehicle burglary. Police said he not only matched the witnesses' description, but he was wearing the same clothes as when he jumped into a car at the gas pumps at the Murphy USA station on Beach Boulevard at Southside Boulevard just after 3 p.m. Tuesday.
The boy who was in the front seat when the car was stolen was found safe 25 minutes later just over three miles away and quickly reunited with his family. The car was also located Tuesday afternoon, but the car theft suspect remained on the loose.
Meyer (pictured in Jacksonville Sheriff's Office booking photo) is charged with kidnapping, auto theft and petty theft.
Police said Alice Stewart, 62, stopped for gas at the station and went inside to get her grandson, David, a drink, leaving him in the front passenger seat.
A witness told JSO she saw a man get into the driver's seat with David still in the front passenger seat. He said, "Don't move. Don't say a word," and drove off.
Both the grandmother and an employee at the gas station called 911.
"When he hopped in that car, he knew a 10-year-old boy was sitting next to him," Officer Melissa Bujeda said. "We don't know what his intentions were."
According to the police report, the man drove to a nearby apartment complex and told David to get out and walk a few feet away. The man got out of the car and left, then returned with some clothing.
He drove with David to the other side of the complex and then told David to get out again.
David asked if he could take his grandmother's purse. The man said, 'Yes," but took the cash and cell phone that were in it.
Officer Charles Mays spotted a boy crying on the side of Beach Boulevard at Cortez Road, a few blocks east of the car theft scene, realized it was the boy reported abducted and returned him to his family waiting at the station.
"I just kept talking to God and telling him how much I trust him and he brought him home," Stewart said.
A few minutes after David was found safe, the stolen car was located at an extended-stay hotel near the intersection of Beach Boulevard and St. Johns Bluff Road.
Police said a customer at a neighboring pump witnessed the car theft and it was recorded by the gas station's surveillance video. Another person reported seeing the man fitting the suspect's description in the Walmart earlier in the day and gave police a better description and allowed them to pull surveillance video that helped them confirm the burglary suspect was their man.
"What if it was my grandson, you know, whose car seat is in my van? What if it had been him in the van? So I had to go up and I had to say something," said Sara, who did not want to provide her last name. "I feel proud -- I'm doing what I'm supposed to do. Don't keep your mouth shut."
Police said said this case should be a warning for everyone never to leave keys in an unlocked car.
"This is a crime of opportunity, unfortunately," Bujeda said. "In these types of circumstances you have to look out for your property. It's a warning to all of us. When you're at a gas pump, lock the door."