Man arrested after allegedly stealing car with child in back seat

A man was arrested in the Crenshaw district Monday evening after allegedly stealing a car with a young boy in the back seat.

Los Angeles Police Department officers began pursuing the man driving a white 2013 Dodge Dart just after 8:35 p.m. in the area of Figueroa and Ninth streets in downtown Los Angeles after receiving a report from the car’s owner that the vehicle was stolen while their 2-year-old son was in the back seat, according to the department.

The man led authorities through the Leimert Park and Crenshaw areas, at one point driving over at least one spike strip and deflating all of the vehicle’s tires.

The sedan came to a stop in the area of Santa Rosalia Drive and Angeles Vista Boulevard at about 9:15 p.m., where the man exited the vehicle and lay in the street before crawling to the sidewalk. Police approached the vehicle and recovered the boy, who was strapped into a car seat in the rear of the sedan.

Police then approached the man and took him into custody just after 9:20 p.m.

No further details were immediately available.