Kids safe after brief kidnapping in Durham

Two children are safe after being kidnapped by a man who stole a car they were sitting in Friday afternoon, Durham police said.

Police received a 911 call about 2:30 p.m. from a man who said he parked his blue Chevrolet Impala in front of a convenience store in the 900 block of Fayetteville Street and went inside, leaving his two boys – ages 4 and 9 – in the vehicle.

While he was in the store, someone jumped in the car and drove off. The thief dropped the children off about 30 minutes later in front of a business in the 1000 block of East Pettigrew Street, police said. They were unharmed.

The car was found abandoned in the 3700 block of Angier Avenue. Police said they are still searching for the man who stole it.

Betty Wright, the boys' grandmother, said she was devastated when she got a call from her son saying the boys were taken.

"I couldn't really talk to him," she said. "I didn't know what to say. I just choked inside."