A man was arrested Thursday for stealing a vehicle with two children in the back seat, the Sacramento Police Department said.Police said Shaun Masse, 29, jumped into the vehicle, which was in the parking lot of a Shell gas station in the 5500 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.A mother left the vehicle running while she ran inside for a moment around 12:35 p.m., leaving her 5-year-old and 6-year-old inside, police said.Convenience store employee Jeet Singh said co-workers told him Masse was in the store just before the mother walked in and tried to purchase several items with a credit card that declined.Masse drove northbound on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, with the children still in the back seat.“Witnesses followed him, officers converged in on the area, and the suspect eventually stopped the vehicle and fled on foot,” Sacramento Police Officer Traci Trapani said.Police said the witnesses that followed Masse are being credited with helping to save the day.“If we know who we’re looking for and a direction of travel, it helps our officers out tremendously with actually locating the suspect,” Trapani said.Officers caught up with Masse and were able to arrest him without incident.Masse was booked into Sacramento County Jail for felony kidnapping and possession of a stolen vehicle. His bail is set at $225,000.___KCRA's Tom Miller and Maneeza Iqbal

A man was arrested Thursday for stealing a vehicle with two children in the back seat, the Sacramento Police Department said.

Police said Shaun Masse, 29, jumped into the vehicle, which was in the parking lot of a Shell gas station in the 5500 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.


A mother left the vehicle running while she ran inside for a moment around 12:35 p.m., leaving her 5-year-old and 6-year-old inside, police said.

Convenience store employee Jeet Singh said co-workers told him Masse was in the store just before the mother walked in and tried to purchase several items with a credit card that declined.

Masse drove northbound on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, with the children still in the back seat.

“Witnesses followed him, officers converged in on the area, and the suspect eventually stopped the vehicle and fled on foot,” Sacramento Police Officer Traci Trapani said.

Police said the witnesses that followed Masse are being credited with helping to save the day.

“If we know who we’re looking for and a direction of travel, it helps our officers out tremendously with actually locating the suspect,” Trapani said.

Officers caught up with Masse and were able to arrest him without incident.

Masse was booked into Sacramento County Jail for felony kidnapping and possession of a stolen vehicle. His bail is set at $225,000.

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KCRA's Tom Miller and Maneeza Iqbal