Largo Man Accused Of Stealing Vehicle With 7-Year-Old Boy Inside

LARGO, FL — A 7-year-old boy is safely back in his parents' arms and a 33-year-old homeless man is facing charges after being accused of stealing a vehicle with the boy inside.

According to Largo Police, Adam Benjamin Vachon, 33, was charged with kidnapping and grand theft auto Monday after police said he stole a family's vehicle with from the Wawa parking lot, 8910 Ulmerton Road in Largo.

Police say the family had stopped at the Wawa gas pumps to fill their vehicle before heading back to their home in South Carolina. The parents left the vehicle running and went inside the Wawa convenience, while their son waited in the vehicle. During that time, police say Vachon jumped into the vehicle and took off east on Ulmerton Road.

The boy's grandfather had also pulled into the Wawa. The father jumped into the grandfather's vehicle and tried to catch up with Vachon but lost track of the vehicle. Vachon dropped off the boy at a hotel in Pinellas Park and told him to go inside and call his mother. Largo found the child unharmed.

Police attempted to trace the vehicle by pinging a phone inside the stolen vehicle but were unsuccessful. The mother suggested using the “Gizmo” app to locate the boy’s watch that was still in the vehicle. Using that app, Tampa Police found the vehicle at the Varela Westshore Apartments, 1701 Lois Ave. N., Tampa.

Vachon wasn't inside the vehicle but was spotted getting off an elevator inside the apartment complex. Police found him sleeping in the complex's entertainment room.

He was arrested around 5 p.m. and booked into the Pinellas County Jail on the kidnapping and grand theft vehicle charges, as well as failure to appear on a charge of fentanyl possession and failure to appear on a charge of possession of heroin.