20-05-2025
Toddlers rescued safely after Wayne family's terrifying vehicle theft
The Brief
Three children were inside a vehicle when a suspect stole it from outside a Wayne gas station.
The truck was found in Dearborn Heights, while the children were found in a parking lot in Inkster.
A 25-year-old man was arrested.
INKSTER, Mich. (FOX 2) - It was a nightmare scenario for a Metro Detroit family when their truck was stolen with their three toddlers still inside, strapped to their car seats.
Timeline
The mom, Ebony Foley, pulled up to a gas station to get milk when, in seconds, a thief hopped in the truck with the toddlers inside.
The suspect then dumped them in a random parking lot two miles from the gas station.
Foley admits she got too comfortable in her own neighborhood as she drove across the street to buy milk on Sunday night.
Gabriel and Isaiah are 18-month-old twins, who were also with 3-year-old Markos.
All three toddlers were strapped into their car seats with the keys in the ignition.
The male suspect jumped in the vehicle and sped off down Michigan Avenue near Venoy, in Wayne, heading towards Inkster.
"The first thing that popped into my head was I hope this man does not crash in my truck with my babies in the back. Flooring it down the road," she said.
What they're saying
Investigators say the thief pulled over into a random lot in Inkster, where he dumped the three toddlers in a dark lot and just left.
"If you have the audacity to drop some babies on the side of the road, what else you have the audacity to do?" she said.
A neighbor heard the youngest boy crying and called 911. Within minutes, police were there to rescue them—they weren't hurt.
Little Markos slept through the whole thing.
Dearborn police luckily had undercover units out who gathered intel from license plate readers to track the suspect to a Marathon gas station in Dearborn Heights.
The parents can't say "thank you" enough to the dozens of officers from multiple departments who saved the day.
They've learned the hard way and want to warn other parents not to trust anything for a second.
What's next
The suspect is in the custody of Wayne police, and charges are pending.
