Philadelphia police investigating theft of minivan from child care center
"The entire time, it appears that they're FaceTiming someone who's kind of walking them through."
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Philadelphia police are looking for the person who stole a minivan from a child care center in Oxford Circle late Monday night.
The white 2020 Toyota Sienna is used to transport school-aged children to programs before and after school.
"I know someone saw something somewhere, and someone can give us some assistance," shared Lisa Smith, who is one of the owners of Amazing Kidz Academy.
Amazing Kidz Academy has several locations. This one on East Cheltenham Avenue by Loretto is their flagship.
The incident was caught on inside and outside security cameras.
The burglar alarm for the child care center went off around 11:50 p.m. Monday.
"ADT contacted me to say we have motion in your building. I said, 'Hold on, let me check the cameras,'" recounted Smith.
"I said, 'There's someone in the building, call the police,'" said Smith. "I could see that they were rumbling through the drawers and stuff, and I knew, at that minute, probably looking for the keys to the van."
Smith watched as the person attempted to disarm the alarm and had a little trouble exiting one of the doors.
"The entire time, it appears that they're FaceTiming someone who's kind of walking them through," said Smith.
The person is seen searching for the vehicle by clicking the key fob. Minutes pass, and ultimately the person gets in and drives away on Cheltenham Ave.
"I'm very disappointed and very hurt," noted Smith.
This child care center has been in the neighborhood for nearly a decade, and recently purchased buildings to expand.
"We just got awarded 100 slots from the state of Pennsylvania for PA Pre-K Counts. We have free pre-K. Here we have PHL Pre-k, Philly pre-K slots," Smith said.
"Let this be a safe place for children. Give the children a space," emphasized Smith.
Amazing Kidz installed their own cameras, but Smith is calling for a city camera to be installed at Cheltenham and Loretto, to help parents and the wider community feel more secure.
"There have been at least two or three people with their cars broken into; like as soon as they drop their child off, they come back out to a broken window," said parent Andrea Harrison.
"It is scary. If they can do it here, they can do it everywhere," added parent Karim Meze.
"This is a city-funded program. It's a state-funded program. Why not add that extra layer of security to make the neighbors feel safe, to let the community know this is a safe space to bring your children?" said Smith.
Anyone with information is asked to call police.
RELATED: Check the 6abc Neighborhood Safety Tracker
