Suspect arrested after vehicle stolen from Louisville Speedway with 5-year-old still inside

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A man was arrested Tuesday a vehicle was stolen from a Louisville Speedway with a 5-year-old girl still inside.

Louisville Metro Police spokeswoman Officer Beth Ruoff said Stephen Murphy, 27, is in custody.

Ruoff said the vehicle was reported stolen from the Speedway at 7933 Fegenbush Lane, near the Outer Loop, shortly after 9 a.m. The child's mother left the girl asleep in the back seat and went inside the store "just for a moment."

When she came back out, her vehicle — described as a a black, four-door Hyundai Elantra with damage to both outside mirrors — was gone.

Ruoff said all available officers were called to look for the vehicle. It was located almost an hour later at the Meijer at 9500 Preston Highway, near the interchange with Interstate 265.

The girl was unharmed and still in the back seat, asleep, Ruoff said.

Police said Tuesday morning that a suspect was on the loose, but they believed they knew his identity and that they had "dealt with him before." Murphy was arrested early Tuesday afternoon in the 9700 block of Chapel Hill Road, a residential area just southeast of the interchange of Interstate 65 and Preston Highway.