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Update: Police ID suspect who allegedly stole car with 3-year-old inside
Massachusetts State Police say the car was parked with the motor running and a toddler sitting in the backseat. The suspect is now facing charges in two states.
A Springfield man is facing charges in two states after police say he stole a car Friday morning and took off with a 3-year-old boy in the back seat.
Massachusetts State Police said toddler Liam David Pagan, who was inside the car stolen from Chicopee around 8:50 a.m. Friday, was later found safe in Connecticut. According to an accompanying AMBER Alert, Pagan has autism.
The 2021 Toyota Camry was stolen from Exchange Street in Chicopee and later found outside a Stop & Shop at 1095 Kennedy Road in Windsor, Conn., police said. However, Pagan and the suspect were not inside.
Officers soon found Pagan at a nearby hotel and located the suspect — later identified as Vadim Vorobyov, 52, of Springfield — shortly thereafter at Anytime Fitness in Windsor.
“Investigation indicates he dropped the child off at the Rodeway Inn and then drove to the shopping plaza where he left the car,” State Police said in a post on X. “Hotel employees contacted police.”
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The boy was taken to a Massachusetts hospital for a precautionary examination, the agency said in a press release.
Vorobyov is facing kidnapping, child endangerment, and fugitive from justice charges in Connecticut, as well as kidnapping, child endangerment, and motor vehicle larceny charges in Massachusetts, according to State Police.
A preliminary investigation indicated Vorobyov came across the Toyota while it was parked with the motor running outside a home in Chicopee, State Police said. Authorities allege Vorobyov got into the car and drove away with Pagan in the back seat.
It was not immediately clear when Vorobyov might be arraigned on the charges.
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