A Lake Stevens couple has a warning for parents after a scary encounter at a grocery store.
Tuesday afternoon, Andi and Taylor Beeston went shopping with their 2-month-old son at the Frontier Village Safeway on SR 9 when they noticed a stranger follow them out to the parking lot.
"When we walked out of the Safeway there was this lady behind us and she was talking on her cellphone," Taylor Beeston said. He noticed she didn't have any groceries.
The couple was loading groceries into the car. They just put their infant inside when Andi Beeston saw the woman approach.
"She showed up out of nowhere, she opened my door and started to sit down!" she said. "I lunged toward her and my instinct said I should get in the car."
The woman was already in the driver's seat. The mother got in the car with the stranger to protect her baby. Then, she confronted the woman, who apologized and got out, saying she had the wrong car.
The Beestons don't buy her story.
"It was too good of timing, I just put the baby in the car," the couple said. "The more I keep thinking about it, it's just kind of weirdly intentional."
Lake Stevens Police say it's possible that woman was trying to steal the couple's newborn baby. She drove away while the couple called 911. Andi and Taylor want to warn other parents about their close call. After posting about the incident on Facebook, several people commented saying this wasn't the first time.
"It was extremely creepy," Taylor said. "One person said a story that was almost exactly the same that happened in the Arlington Safeway parking lot."
The couple wants to believe it was an accident but say their parental instincts told them otherwise.
"It could have been an honest mistake. I hope it is. But no matter what, I wouldn't want somebody who might be on drugs or confused to drive away with my baby or my car," Andi said.
Lake Stevens Police want to remind parents that incidents like this can unfold very quickly. They're glad no one was hurt in this case.
The Beestons saw the woman drive away in a grey/charcoal colored car.
"This person was thin, long hair in a clip, wearing sunglasses, jeans and a sweatshirt. Probably pretending to be on a phone call,” they said.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Lake Stevens Police Department.
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