Stolen Car Returned to Gas Station with 1-Year-Old Inside, Florida Man Arrested
BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. - A man returned a stolen vehicle to a gas station in Brevard County after discovering a 1-year-old child was secured inside, according to the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies arrested 33-year-old William Mullis and charged him with grand theft of a motor vehicle and kidnapping confinement under 13.
The incident highlights the potential dangers of leaving young children unattended in vehicles, even for brief periods, and raises questions about existing Florida law regarding leaving a child alone in a car. Mullis was denied bond Wednesday and remains in jail as the investigation continues.
Deputies responded to a report of a stolen vehicle at a gas station on Tuesday. The vehicle’s owner had briefly left the car running while going inside the store,leaving her 1-year-old child in a car seat. Mullis allegedly drove off in the vehicle, unaware of the child’s presence.
According to an affidavit, Mullis told deputies he would not have taken the vehicle had he known a child was inside. He returned the car to the same gas station shortly after realizing the child was a passenger. The child was unharmed and reunited with their mother.
florida law currently allows an adult to leave a child under the age of 6 unattended in a vehicle for up to 15 minutes. However, some, like retired Brevard Sheriff’s Office Sergeant Ronnie Crane, believe the law should be reevaluated.
“This guy could’ve kept going with the kid, and we’ve had children, after a guy steals a car, the guy’s left children sitting along the side of the roads before,” Crane said. “That could have very well happened in this case.”
Crane, a neighbor of the child’s mother, expressed hope that the incident serves as a lesson. He described the mother as a “good people” who ”just made a bad choice.”
