This is a story about a running car, a boy in the back seat and a car thief. Fortunately, this St. Paul tale ended with only the car missing, as the thief quickly realized he had a 6-year-old in the back seat and let him out of the car.

On Thursday in St. Paul, around 4 p.m., a mom parked her car outside Earth's Beauty Supply at 608 University Ave. near the corner of University and Dale. She left the car running and her son in the back seat as she went into the store. After what she said was only a couple minutes, she came out to discover the car was gone, said police spokesman Sgt. Paul Paulos.

Then she saw it on Dale Street at University. Then she saw the car stop and her son get out. Then she watched the car, a 2000 white Mercury Sable, drive away north on Dale.

The boy was safe and unharmed, Paulos said. The car has not yet been recovered.