Man Faces String Of Charges After Overnight Crime

SIOUX FALLS, SD - A one-year-old child is safe and his mother has learned a tough lesson to never leave a child in an unattended car. Police say the man who stole the car was chased down and tackled by a witness.

45-year-old James Farmer faces a lengthy list of charges after police say he stole a car that had a young child inside it. According to police, Farmer stole the car from outside a Cubby's gas station on West 12th Street. But three people who saw him steal the car followed him, and when Farmer stopped driving outside his apartment just a few blocks away, witnesses tackled Farmer and held him down until officers arrived.

"In this, case it worked out. We never recommend that people confront suspects because you never know what they are capable of," Sioux Falls Police Public Information Officer Sam Clemens said.

Farmer is charged with possession of stolen property, grand theft, DWI, Reckless driving, and driving without a license.

The child was unharmed and returned to his mother.

Police also arrested Farmer for kidnapping, but police say he didn't know that the child was in the back seat, so that charge may be dropped.