The mother of a baby taken, then dumped on the roadside by a thief who stole her car regrets leaving her sleeping infant unattended as she popped into a dairy for a fizzy drink, saying the ordeal has left her paranoid and sleepless.
In an exclusive interview with the Herald, the 23-year-old mother spoke about the moment she thought she would never see her baby boy again, the guilt she has felt since the incident, and how her feelings have changed since the alleged abductor was arrested on Friday night.
The mother - who has asked not to be named - said she was relieved the alleged offender had been caught but is still taking things one day at a time.
“I just want to curl up in a ball, focus on the kids and not really deal with it,” she said.
The incident happened in Waitara, Taranaki, on May 10. Security camera footage showed an offender dumping the baby on the roadside and then speeding away.
Police have now charged a man with abducting a child, aggravated assault, unlawfully taking a motor vehicle, driving while disqualified and failing to stop for police.
Detective Senior Sergeant said the alleged offender “showed little concern for the safety of the community”. The 34-year-old was due to appear in the New Plymouth District Court on May 30.
The man was arrested after police spotted him driving on State Highway 1. Officers tried pulling him over, but he fled and was chased. Police abandoned the pursuit because of how dangerously he was allegedly driving, but police dogs tracked him down.
A 27-year-old New Plymouth woman appeared in court on Wednesday with a charge of unlawfully getting into a motor vehicle in connection with the incident. She did not enter a plea and was remanded on bail until her next appearance.
The mother-of-two said she often stopped for a soft drink after dropping her older daughter at kindergarten, and she wanted to leave her baby to sleep in peace for the brief moment she went into the store.
She left her car running, and when she came out last Friday, she watched as someone sped away in it.
“I only took my Eftpos card in. This is the silliest thing I’ve ever done in my life. I do see my mistake. It’s going to be so hard for me to ever step out of the house with my kids again. I’m going to be constantly checking where my keys are,” she said.
“I thought I would never see my baby again. I can’t believe I did that to my kid. [When the car was taken], I just ran and I hoped and I prayed.”
She said her baby boy was doing well after the incident.
“He’s a relatively passive baby. Me and [his father] always talk about how he’s a really happy baby. We haven’t noticed any sort of distress. Luckily, he won’t remember anything.
“I’m just really thankful that my 3-year-old daughter was not in the car, because that would have probably really traumatised her - you know, a strange man hopping into mum’s car.”
In the week since the incident, as the woman tried picking herself up, she was dealt another blow when she was slapped with a $200 bill to recover her damaged car from a salvage yard.
“My best friend and I were on the phone, I said to her ... ‘I do just genuinely feel like I’m about to give up. I don’t know what the next step is.’
“I haven’t been able to sleep since it happened. I still see my car speeding away. It’s all a bit like a kick in the guts. It still feels so surreal.”
Even though the alleged offender had been arrested and charged, the woman said she was paranoid about the possibility of further incidents happening.
She said she had only recently moved to Waitara for a “fresh start” after her home in Ngāruawāhiaburned down, leaving her with nothing but her car.
“I feel like I’ve grown up a lot in the last year,” she said.
“Once we got my car back home, it was so good - but it’s my family car, and now it’s got cigarette butts and ... glass all through it, and it’s just sitting in my shed, unable to move or drive.
“I like to see the good things in life and I want to move forward with my life.”
Raphael Franks is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. He joined the Herald as a Te Rito cadet in 2022.