Man sentenced for stealing truck with 2 kids inside

This browser does not support the video element.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A man will spend at least the next decade behind bars for stealing a truck with two kids inside.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officers said Howard Watson snatched the vehicle from the QT on Clanton Road in November while the children's parents were inside the store.

Police: Truck with kids inside stolen from gas station, involved in chase

Watson was sentenced after taking a plea deal.

The children’s mother was emotional talking about that night.

"Our children had a permanent stigma in having been kidnapped and been part of this crime,” the mother said.

Channel 9 looked into Watson's criminal past and found he has been arrested at least a dozen times since April 2015.