This California woman doesn’t waste time.
Monique Cadena, 24, had been released from jail for only minutes Wednesday before she allegedly stole a running car parked outside the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga, California, taking the elderly woman sitting inside the vehicle along for the ride.
Earlier on Wednesday, Cadena was booked for being under the influence of a controlled substance and slapped with a citation. She was released around 5 p.m. from the jail, and unsuccessfully tried to hitch a ride from jail visitors, according to a San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department release.
“It is believed that when she exited the facility, she noticed the vehicle running and fled the area with the victim,” the sheriff’s department said.
It was then she noticed the running Hyundai Sonata and drove off with the woman, who had been sitting in the vehicle waiting for a family member.
Police said a witness who heard the elderly woman yelling for help in the parking lot reported the crime.
Within minutes, Cadena dropped the woman off at a nearby gas station, according to authorities.
“Deputies located the elderly female at the gas station unharmed,” the release said. “She was taken back to the jail facility to be interviewed and returned to her family.”
Four hours later, authorities were able to track down Cadena in the stolen car in Fontana, California.
She was arrested on suspicion of carjacking and kidnapping.
Cadena is scheduled to appear in court on Friday.