SPD distributed images from security cameras following the June 29th incident as it asked for the public’s help identifying the suspect

The bizarre Capitol Hill kidnapping case involving the alleged theft of a car with a teen girl inside could land the man accused of the crime in prison for life.

Nathan Huber was charged Thursday with second degree kidnapping and auto theft. Police say the defendant appears to have lucked into a sick situation — encountering a mother exercising on the E Howe stairs and mentioning that her car was still running parked nearby.

When the woman told him her daughter was asleep inside the car and continued her workout, police say Huber hopped in, stole the BMW, and drove away without being noticed, masturbating in front of the girl as he sped through the streets of Seattle, groping his young victim and finally letting her go near an International District park where she was found frantic but not seriously injured.

Prosecutors say the 37-year-old Huber is a registered sex offender after his conviction 20 years ago for attempted rape and a 2005 indecent exposure conviction. “If the defendant is convicted of kidnapping in the second degree with sexual motivation,” prosecutors write, “that conviction will constitute the defendant’s ‘second sex strike’ and the defendant will face a sentence of life without the possibility of parole as a persistent offender.”

Huber was arrested at his Rainier Beach residence after being identified from security images following the Friday, June 29th incident, police say. He is jailed on $1 million bail.