‘Paralyzing.' Parents of 1-Year-Old Recovered in Carjacking Breathe Sigh of Relief

Life is once again normal for little James, and that is a huge relief after what happened to him just two days ago.

"It was so fast, but it was also the scariest, longest moment of my life," Laurina Esposito, James' mom, said.

On Tuesday afternoon, James' mom stopped at a Van Nuys Starbucks on Sherman Way trying to pick up her tea while her sleeping, teething 1-year-old was in the back seat.

She had a dilemma.

"Do you get him up to run in and grabbed an iced tea or do you let him sleep?" she said.

Never letting her toddler out of sight, Esposito said she stepped inside to get her order.

"Less than 5 feet away," she said.

She was less than 5 feet away when police say 25-year-old Jesse Lopez stepped inside her Ford Escape and took off with James on board.

"And right when I got to the very first street, intersection, I lost sight of him, and I think that was the very first moment that I felt, it felt real. It felt like he was gone," she said,.

Esposito frantically alerted police nearby who started their chase, and soon after, she called her mom.

"Stunning. Horrifying. Paralyzing," said James' grandma Terry Lasource.

Grandma Terry said she instantly started to pray.

"And I’m thinking nobody knows the value of this child like we do. And certainly not a stranger. Every child is valuable, every child means something to somebody, but this was my grandson, my only grandchild," she said.

Minutes later, only a half mile away, the suspect crashed into a car.

So thankfully police were able to make a quick arrest and James was safe.

"I didn’t know that he had been found, until I heard somebody’s radio say suspect in custody, car has been found. But then I’m going, ‘but where is the baby, where is the baby’, and then I finally heard baby is in custody, baby is here, and I collapsed," James' mom said.

Then dad showed up.

"When I saw the suspect in handcuffs I tried to punch him; it was a moment of rage. The officer just pulled me to the back because otherwise they were going to handcuff me," Gus Flores said.

Two days later, the engaging, warm, fearless 1-year-old is back where he belongs, safe with family.

"He is destined for greatness, and if we didn’t believe it before, we believe it now, because he could have been gone and out of this world, and he’s not," James mother said.

Lopez is still in custody at the Van Nuys jail being held on $1 million bail. He faces carjacking, kidnapping, and child abuse charges after he crashed into another car.

James' mom is sore from chasing the car, but thankfully both mom and James will be OK.