Construction workers tackle man accused of stealing truck with baby inside

GASTONIA, N.C. — The community is thanking a construction crew after officials said the workers chased down a man who stole a pickup truck with a 5-month-old boy inside Thursday afternoon in Gastonia.

Officials said the man stole the truck with the child inside around 1 p.m. before ditching it near a construction site on Franklin Boulevard with the baby still buckled in the back seat.

After hopping out, witnesses said the man tried to run, but didn’t get too far. Construction workers at the site nearby reportedly chased him before tackling him to the ground and holding him until officers arrived.

Channel 9′s Gaston County bureau reporter Ken Lemon was there as officers handcuffed the man and put him in the back of a patrol car.

“I wouldn’t have took the car if I knew there was a child inside,” the suspect said.

The infant was not hurt, police said.

No additional information has been released.

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