A brave eight-year-old girl has been praised after she saved herself and her sister when a man tried to steal the car they were in.
Adam Jorgenson was getting his car washed while his two daughters, eight-year-old Charley and two-year-old Autumn, were sat in the back.
But when he very briefly left the car with the girls in the back to go and find a cloth, someone jumped into the driver's seat and sped off in the SUV.
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Speaking of the scary incident, young Charley explained that the thief asked her to get out of the car.
She told WTMJ: “I was like, ‘What should I do?’ Should I run and be a scaredy cat or should I save my sister too?
“I should try to kick him or defend myself and Autumn. But then, I was like, ‘I should stay in my seat and do nothing. Stay here, do the questions'.
“When I realised that dad had the key, I was like, ‘He can’t do anything without the key’.”
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Charley recalled that the thief had asked her where the keys for the car were, and when she said her dad had them, the thief sped off and dumped the vehicle a mile down the road.
The intelligent young girl then used her dad’s phone to contact her mum, and could be heard on the call saying: “Mom, I need you! We lost Dad."
When the girls were found by police, safe and unharmed, Jorgenson said: “I ran as fast as I could out of the back of that cop car to hug them.”
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Police suspect the incident, which happened in Milwaukee, involved three people aged 17, 20, and 21. All suspects have now been arrested.
The dad is wanting to warn other parents to avoid making the same mistake, no matter the length of time.
He noted how he was distracted whilst the car-thief jumped in the driver's seat by someone asking him questions.
Talking to WTMJ, he said: “In the winter, you come outside with your groceries and you have your two little kids.
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“You want to put them in the warm car and go take your cart back to the corral. That’s not the right order anymore.
“Your kids might need to be cold for a few more minutes outside with you before you start your car and put them in it.
“It took two seconds for me to respond to somebody and then to sneak in.”
This just goes to show how important it is to not leave children unattended in a car, especially when the engine is still running.
Mia Williams