A Columbia Heights woman was sentenced on Friday to more than five months in jail plus probation after pleading guilty to stealing an SUV with a 9-month-old baby inside.
Catherine Emily Ann Lies, 27, was sentenced to 160 days in the Anoka County jail, five years' probation and a 17-month suspended sentence for operating a motor vehicle without the owner's consent.
On Aug. 13, a woman parked her SUV outside Bobby and Steve's in Columbia Heights with the keys in the ignition and the baby dozing in the back seat. As she came out of the store, she saw Lies and another woman drive off in the SUV. Police found the SUV abandoned at 1st and University Avenues NE. with the baby inside unharmed. Lies told police she didn't know the baby was inside the vehicle when she stole it.
Assistant Anoka County Attorney Chuck Weber said kidnapping charges were not filed because there was no evidence that Lies, who was driving the vehicle, knew that the baby was there. The other woman was not charged.
ABBY SIMONS
