Man steals van with 3 children inside, police say

Newson6.com

TULSA, Okla. -- Police are looking for a man who stole a van with three children inside in Tulsa.

At about 12:30 a.m. a woman went inside a 24-hour tanning salon and left a couple of teenagers to watch her van and her three children. When the woman returned, the suspect walked up and took the vehicle with the children inside, police said.

After the woman called 911, police spotted the van and a chase began, Officer Leland Ashley said. The van circled back to an area near the tanning salon and police laid down stop sticks.

"I'm not sure how many of the tires were actually punctured; we do know at least one of them was," Ashley said. "There was a time when the individual was driving on the rim."

The man ran from the van. Officers searched several nearby apartment complexes for the suspect, but he remained at large Thursday morning.

The children, ages 8, 3 and 1, were checked out by paramedics and police said they are OK.