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Teens held gun to boy's head after stealing car with him inside, mom says

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A mother told Channel 9 she's glad her son is OK after five teenagers stole her car with him inside it Sunday morning in northeast Charlotte.

The carjacking happened around 8:30 a.m. at the North Tryon Laundromat on North Tryon Street near Heathway Drive.

The woman said she had just started her car and put her 7-year-old son inside before running quickly inside the laundromat. She said that's when robbers held a gun to her son's head and stole her car with him still inside.

According to officers, the teens eventually drove back to the laundromat parking lot, pushed the boy out of the car and sped off.

His mom told Channel 9 that after he rolled out the car, he ran inside the business and told her what had happened.

"So, he fell out on the street and came running back to where I was,” she said.

She said her son told her that while he was in the car, the teens lied to him, saying they had friends inside the laundromat choking his mother.

[ALSO READ: North Carolina man accused of stealing car with child inside]

Surveillance video shows the teens walking through the laundromat minutes before the carjacking happened. At one point, the mother can be seen holding the door for one of them before her car was stolen.

Police later found the car near Shamrock Road when the teens jumped out of it and ran away.

"All of my possessions were stolen. They even cut up my seats in the back,” the woman said.

Authorities said they caught three of the robbers near North Sharon Amity Road and Albermarle Road and K-9s were called in to help search for the two remaining teens.

They have not yet been found.

Despite the situation, the mother told Channel 9 she can't help but feel lucky.

“I’m blessed," she said. "We’re blessed we’re OK. It will take some time and therapy, but he will be fine.”

Earlier this week, another car was stolen in east Charlotte with a 1-year-old boy inside.

[ALSO READ: Mom grateful baby boy survived violent crash after man stole car at gunpoint]

Police said Maurice Rakestraw stole Gissel Padilla's car at gunpoint before crashing 3 miles away on Eastway Drive.

The boy survived without a scratch.

Rakestraw is facing kidnapping and armed robbery charges.

Check back with wsoctv.com for updates.