By Luke Voogt
A five-year-old girl is lucky to be alive after her alleged abductor drove on the wrong side of Melbourne Road to evade a pursuit, police said.
Police were hunting for the alleged child abductor in Norlane on Thursday morning after a car was stolen from Wyndham Vale with the girl inside.
Operational Divisional Support Commander Superintendent Craig Gillard was in Norlane later in the morning as dog squads, helicopters and 50 police officers searched for the man.
“Clearly an incident such as this could only be described as absolutely traumatising for both the child and the parent,” he said.
“I shudder to think what they are both going through.”
A lone man took the BMW from a Kinglake Drive property about 6.30am with the young girl in the backseat.
A second man was seen to leave the scene in a white Toyota Supra.
“The parents left momentarily and the offender has taken that opportunity to steal it,” Supt Gillard said.
“What started as theft of a motor car has moved into a new arena, which is child abduction.”
Supt Gillard said the offender must have known the girl was in the backseat.
He said stealing the car showed the mindset of the offender who chose to “behave in this way” knowing the girl was there.
Police spotted the car in Norlane just after 7am and pursued the car around a number of streets at low speed.
The driver swerved when police deployed stop sticks on Melbourne Road an attempt to stop him, Supt Gillard said.
“The driver went around those,” he said.
“Unfortunately the driver has taken some incredibly dangerous actions.”
The man drove across the median strip and stopped the car on Plume Street, after the airbags deployed, fleeing on foot.
The girl was later reunited with her parents in Wyndham Vale.
Witnesses described the young man fleeing the car as having wavy brown hair, wearing a grey top, black tracksuit pants and red and grey shoes.
Supt Gillard urged Norlane residents to call triple zero if they spotted the man.
He said anyone with information could call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential report at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au.
Police intended to collect CCTV footage from the area.
