A dad recovered a stolen vehicle with his four terrified kids inside using a suspect's abandoned stolen car.
Mum Deanah Gotchie, from Burnsville in Minnesota, US, was unloading a few possessions at a friend's home around 8.30pm Thursday evening.
Her husband, Derek, left the car for a split second to close the back door of the house when a burglar immediately drove off in the car with their four young kids in the car.
Deanah told ABC : “I turn around, and I’m like, ‘What? I look out the door, and I see our tail lights leaving.”
Quick-thinking Derek notice the suspect's stolen abandoned van still running and jumped in the car as he chased the criminal.
He admitted: “I didn’t know what to do. I’m jumping in there, I’m going after my kids.”
The car chase was over in minutes after the dad tracked down the suspect.
According to Derek, the burglar pulled over to let a car by when he rammed his truck into the suspect's car.
He said: “I just hit the back of my truck and pushed him into this alleyway to pin him against this fence."
The truck was forced to stop and the suspect fled the scene leaving four frightened kids in the car.
Fortunately no one was injured but Derek's car was damaged as police arrived at the scene.
Deanah said: “I asked [the officer], ‘Did you find them?’ He was like, ‘Your husband did.’ I’m like, ‘What are you talking about my husband did?'
“I got there, and I hear the story, I’m not surprised at all, I’m not surprised at all. I’m like, ‘Yup, that sounds like my husband.'”
The traumatic experience has left the couple's children frightened as the family take time off work to recover from the ordeal.
A GoFundMe was launched by friends and family to help fund costs for their damaged car.
Veronica Erickson, who is organising the fundraiser, wrote: "Everybody is okay and safe, but they now have trauma and some expenses because of the event that took place.
"We’d like to make them as comfortable as possible while dealing with this traumatic experience.
The Minneapolis Police Department are investigating the incident and continue to look for the suspect.
No arrests have been made.
