CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - Two baby-faced car thieves take a joy ride after allegedly stealing a stolen car in Brooklyn.
19 News has obtained video of what was caught on camera as the young boys smiled at another motorist who videotaped the kids driving recklessly and speeding. The youngest of the two boys even hung half of his body outside of the moving car on Ridge Road and Memphis.
Elyssa Baesel of Brooklyn said she left her apartment around 6:00 A.M. on Wednesday to get her daughter to the babysitter and head to work when she realized her silver Kia Forte had been stolen, "I actually had come outside for work with my daughter in one arm -- and went to my car to take her to the babysitters and go off to work. But my car wasn't there."
Baesel even kept pressing the button on her key fob, thinking maybe she parked in the wrong space. But hours later, a friend texted a Ring camera notification about her car, "It said about a 10 to 12-year-old kid in a red shirt crashed a silver Kia. They are babies."
The stolen Kia was found crashed and abandoned near St. Theodosius Cemetery on Wednesday afternoon, and Baesel says her car had to be towed to a local auto shop because there was so much damage, "My whole back window's busted out. My door handles ripped off, my rims busted, my tires busted, and whatever underside damage. It's not drivable as of now. Thankfully, they didn't crash it into a pole or didn't get injured. So, I guess that is one benefit to that."
The two child suspects were picked up by police and are now facing serious charges that include grand theft and receiving stolen property.
As Brooklyn Police continue the investigation into the stolen car, Baesel now knows her anti-theft system installed on her 2021 Kia doesn't work, but she hopes the young suspects have found out crime doesn't pay, "That they need to change their ways before they become adults, and it turns into a lifestyle at that point."
The car owner says she supports a juvenile diversion program for the youngest of the two suspects, and she says she will ask for restitution when the case goes to court.
In the meantime, the crime victim said young kids need to learn that things don't come cheap and they don't come easy. You have to work for what you want.
Brooklyn Police confirm the stolen Kia was recovered, and the teens were arrested.