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Lynn man tried to steal car with child in backseat, police say

LYNN, Mass. — A man in Lynn allegedly attempted to steal a car while a child had been sitting in the back seat, police say.

Jonathan Leighton, 30, of Lynn, is facing several charges after police arrested him on Friday at around noon.

According to police, Leighton had been driving a Jeep that had been stolen from outside a home on Myrtle Street.

When that car broke down, about three hours later, a passerby stopped to help out Leighton.

At that point, Leighton got into the man's car, where the man's 2-year-old daughter was sitting in the back seat, and tried driving off.

The child's father tried stopping Leighton before he drove away with the girl still in the backseat.

Leighton then allegedly hit parked cars and an unmarked cruiser that had stopped to help with the broken car. He drove for a small distance before getting out of the car and running away on foot before police got to him and arrested him.

The toddler was unharmed during the incident.

Leighton is facing two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, leaving the scene of an accident, carjacking, resisting arrest and receiving stolen property.

Timothy Goodwin, the owner of the Jeep Leighton was initially driving tells Boston 25 News he is still stunned by the dramatic series of events that followed.

"He wasn't a good guy," Goodwin said. “I went in the house to pick up some tools and things to bring them to the car. I was in the house for less than 10 minutes I come out and the car was gone."

Goodwin says Leighton allegedly took the key that he had left on the passenger floor and took off in broad daylight.

“He actually put gas in the vehicle because there was more gas than when he left and I knew he had it for three hours," said Goodwin.

Police say Leighton drove the stolen Jeep for three hours until the vehicle overheated and broke down by the Four Winds Pub & Grill in Lynn.

Goodwin's wife, Mary Ellen, rushed to the scene after the Jeep broke down and Leighton tried stealing another car.

"Nobody could believe it," said Mary Ellen Goodwin. "I think the thing that really shocked everybody he tried to steal the truck with the other guy’s 2-year-old daughter in the back seat. When I heard that I really started to get sick. You hear too many stories about cars being taken with children in the back seat."

Goodwin says he's still puzzled as to why Leighton took his car, but says nothing was missing from inside the vehicle.

Leighton is expected to appear in court as early as Monday.

Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated where the car Leighton was initially driving originated from. The car was stolen from outside a home on Myrtle Street and broke down near the area of 200 Broadway Street.