Man stole car with baby inside, left child on the side of the road in New Orleans

CHALMETTE – A man stole a car with a baby inside and then deserted the child on the side of a New Orleans road, authorities say.

According to the St. Bernard Parish Sheriff’s Office, 21-year-old Jonathan Perkins stole a car around 11 a.m. Wednesday that was sitting outside of a Chalmette business.

Perkins took off with the baby inside, but deputies found the child unharmed on the side of the road on an Almonaster Boulevard overpass in New Orleans. Deputies later found the car abandoned but still running near Desire Street.

Perkins was arrested Thursday afternoon and booked for theft of a motor vehicle, second-degree kidnapping, child desertion and illegal possession of stolen property.