Muni driver helps police rescue baby kidnapped in SF

File photo of police car lights. Flashing Lights on Police Car File photo of police car lights. Flashing Lights on Police Car Photo: Jacom Stephens / Getty Image Photo: Jacom Stephens / Getty Image Image 1 of / 28 Caption Close Muni driver helps police rescue baby kidnapped in SF 1 / 28 Back to Gallery

A baby was snatched out of her father’s parked car in the South of Market neighborhood of San Francisco on Sunday, prompting a citywide alert that ended when a Muni operator spotted the suspect with the child on public transportation, police said.

The incident unfolded at 8:54 a.m. when the suspect took the baby from a vehicle parked on Sherman Street in the South of Market area while the infant’s father was preparing a bottle for her nearby, police said.

As police put out a citywide alert to patrol officers and city workers, a witness to the kidnapping contacted police and told them the suspect got on a Muni vehicle with the child, said Officer Robert Rueca, a spokesman for the San Francisco Police Department.

A Muni operator who received the citywide alert soon saw the suspect and the abducted baby on a Muni vehicle at Bayshore Boulevard and Arleta Avenue in Visitation Valley and alerted police, Rueca said. Responding officers rescued the baby and arrested the suspect without incident.

Rueca could not immediately say if the arrest was made on a Muni bus or a street car.

Around 9 a.m., the parents were reunited with the child, Rueca said. The baby was taken to a hospital as a precaution, but was not hurt.

The suspect’s name was not immediately released. Police are investigating if she knows the family of the baby or if she was a strangers.

Anyone with information on the incident can contact police at (415) 575-4444.

Wendy Lee is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: wlee@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @thewendylee