Someone stole a van Thursday morning in south Minneapolis with a 10-year-old autistic boy inside, and the child was released unharmed minutes later and blocks away, authorities said.
The van was stolen shortly before 8 a.m. after arriving at a home in the 3100 block of 4th Avenue S. to pick up another child, Minneapolis police Sgt. William Palmer said.
The driver left the boy in the van and the vehicle running as he went to the home to get another child, Palmer said. That's when the thief drove off.
The boy was found by a relative after being dropped off "a few blocks away ... and returned home around 8:10 or 8:15," Palmer said.
The Ford Windstar van, which said "Cedar Transport" on the side, was found unoccupied later in the day in northeast Minneapolis, Palmer said.
Paul Walsh
