Man Steals Van With Baby Inside

Wed., April 12, 2000

From Staff

Jalene Wasson was just steps away when a thief jumped into her van and sped away.

“I screamed and pointed to my baby,” Wasson said later. “I said, `My baby’s in there!’ ”

The thief looked at her and at the blanket that covered 3-year-old Nathalya, and kept right on going, Wasson said.

Fifteen minutes later, the man returned with the van, and Pierce County sheriff’s deputies quickly arrested him.

Albert Lee Pratoff, 42, was charged Tuesday with first-degree theft, first-degree kidnapping, resisting arrest and driving with a suspended license, said Ed Murphy, deputy Pierce County prosecutor.

“Getting her out of the car seat and hugging her was the most incredible feeling,” Wasson said of her reunion with her daughter.

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