{"id":184573,"date":"2026-03-09T19:24:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T19:24:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/184573\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T19:24:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T19:24:09","slug":"jso-releases-body-camera-footage-shares-warning-after-womans-car-was-stolen-with-her-19-month-old-child-inside","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/184573\/","title":{"rendered":"JSO releases body camera footage, shares warning after woman\u2019s car was stolen with her 19-month-old child inside"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 A 22-year-old man is facing multiple charges after police say he stole a vehicle that was left running with a 19-month-old inside, prompting a warning from the Jacksonville Sheriff\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Micah Simmons was arrested in January on charges of car theft, credit card theft, child abuse without great bodily harm, and \u201cconfinement of a child under 13 against its will without the consent of the guardian.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">According to JSO, the frightening incident began on Jan. 8 outside a CVS on Blanding Boulevard when a woman called 911 to report her car had been stolen with her child still inside.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">She told police she left the sleeping child in the car with the engine running for less than 5 minutes, but when she came back outside, she realized her car was gone.<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">19-MONTH-OLD RETURNED TO MOTHER AFTER SUSPECT STEALS CAR<\/p>\n<p>A 19-month-old baby was safely returned to their mother after a suspect stole a running car from a parking lot.<\/p>\n<p>On January 8, 2026, District 4 Patrol officers responded to a report of a stolen vehicle with a 19-month-old\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/m7FtqQWYI5\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/m7FtqQWYI5<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Jax Sheriff&#8217;s Office (@JSOPIO) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JSOPIO\/status\/2030780602082058340?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">March 8, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Officers said the woman was distraught, and body camera video from that night shows her sitting in the back of a police car with the door open, weeping and saying, \u201cI don\u2019t care about the car, I care about my [child].\u201d (Watch: Press play above to watch the body camera video from that night)<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">JSO said the stolen car was found in less than 20 minutes, but the child was not inside.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Thankfully, witnesses had seen the child being left by the car thief at a gas station on Collins Road and called 911, police said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">According to Simmons\u2019 arrest report, multiple witnesses saw him take the child out of the car, push the child to the ground in the parking lot and then speed off in the car.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">The child, who suffered a scratch on the cheek, was reunited with its mother.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">\u201cWhile we do not justify Simmons\u2019 actions and are working to ensure justice is served, this incident is an important reminder: never leave a running vehicle unattended,\u201d JSO wrote in a statement Monday with the release of the body camera video.&#8221; If you\u2019re stepping away from your car even for a few minutes turn it off and take your keys with you.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX &#8211; All rights reserved.<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 A 22-year-old man is facing multiple charges after police say he stole a vehicle that&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":184574,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[265,116,118,117],"class_list":["post-184573","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-crime","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184573","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=184573"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184573\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/184574"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=184573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=184573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=184573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}