(NECN: Brian Burnell) - "The drugs made him do it."
That's what a Connecticut man's girlfriend is saying after he was arrested for stealing a car with a two-year-old boy inside.
The crime sparked an amber alert and a frantic search late on Thursday afternoon.
"I know that he's traumatized,” said the boy’s mother, Marie Capo of Manchester, Conn. “He cries if I walk away from him. He thinks I'm going to abandon him or something. He's afraid."
But Luis Trinidad is OK, much to the relief of his mother. Late on Thursday, Luis was found, safe and sound, after the car he was in was stolen.
Twenty-four-year-old Davon Mills of Hartford is charged with kidnapping, larceny and risk of injury to a minor.
Police say an orange Cadillac was left with the keys in it and Luis in the back while his father ran into this convenience store. When he came out, the car -- and Luis -- were gone and police issued an amber alert.
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Mills’ girlfriend was among those in court for his arraignment. She and friends say when he realized the boy was in the car, he took him to a friend's house in Bristol where he'd be safe and drove back to Hartford. The car was found near Bushnell Park, and Mills was arrested.
"He was just trying to get home and he was high on PCP and I guess he was just trying to get home to his wife and his children,” said Monalisa Jackson, the suspect’s girlfriend.
Jessica Tourangeau is the mother of Mills’ two children and gave birth to his second child just three days ago.
“I want to apologize to the family that this has happened to,” Tourangeau said. “My heart really does go out to you guys because I have three young children so … I just had a baby three days ago by Davon and he does have a serious drug problem."
Initially, police were looking for two men who stole the car. The other one, allegedly, is a man who goes by the street name Checks.
“If he was not on drugs, this is not Davon,” Tourangeau said. “He's all about family. He's all about his kids. He helps everybody out. He's not involved in the streets. He just chose to hang with the wrong people and be on the wrong drug at the wrong time."
Mills is being held on $750,000 bond and is due back in court on Jan. 8.
