Boy who escaped from the stolen car with his sister greeted as a hero

An 8-year-old boy in Ohio who escaped last week from the back seat of a stolen vehicle with his sister is considered a hero by the authorities.

The children's great-grandmother, 69-year-old Nita Coburn, told the police that she had the children with her when she drove her daughter to the Middletown Atrium Medical Center on Thursday afternoon.

When she stopped at the entrance to the emergency room, Coburn said she was out of the vehicle to help her daughter get to the hospital.

Seconds later, Dalvir Singh, 24, jumped into the driver's seat and took off with the children still in the back seat, the police said. The boy, Chance, opened the door of a car to escape with his sister, Skylar, 10, but Singh would have seized him by his hooded jacket, preventing him from run away, according to the police. Luck could grab Skylar and the two men got out of the vehicle while he was moving, as shown in a surveillance film.

Coburn said she had not realized that they had escaped and chased the vehicle on foot. She opened the driver's door and tried to regain control of the car, but Dalvir would have slammed the door, accelerated and dragged it to the four-length car before letting it go, police said.

Two officers observed the stolen vehicle fleeing and arrested Singh, who, according to the police, was a heroin addict. He was detained and charged with kidnapping, assault and grand theft.

The Middletown Police Division said it would recognize Chance's actions.

"This little guy is a hero, no question," police chief Rodney Muterspaw said in a statement. "He took his sister out of the car without worrying about his own safety."