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Thief Steals More Than Candy From 'Baby'

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TAMARAC (CBSMiami) - Grace Plata, the owner of Grace Salon in Tamarac, hopes a young man is caught and changes his ways; learns you can get the things you want in life without stealing them from a helpless child.

Friday afternoon in the beauty parlor on North State Road 7, four-year-old Alejandro Ariza was watching cartoons on an iPad, while his mother Jenny Rincon, a cosmetologist in training, was helping a client.

Suddenly, a young man appearing to be in his late teens, opened the parlor door and snatched the iPad from the little boy's hands.

Security video shows the thief, wearing a purple T-shirt and beige shorts, darting out the door with the iPad.

WEB EXTRA: Click here to WATCH surveillance video of theft

Seven-year-old Andres Garcia, the iPads owner, told CBS4's Gary Nelson he wished he had been there instead of in a store down the way in the strip mall. He and his friend could have nabbed the thief, he said.

"I could have jumped on him, Andres said. "And Alejandro could have sat on him," the child said, his face stern.

"I was afraid, I was very nervous," said Alejandro's mother. That didn't keep her and others in the shop from chasing after the fleet-footed thief, without success. Even little Alejandro darted out the door, appearing stunned and confused.

"It's terrible," the boys mother said, "because it's a baby, stealing from an innocent baby four years old."

In a despicable moment, innocence was lost at the beauty parlor.

"I never expected something like that would happen," said Plata, the spa owner. "Now we're going to have to change a lot of things here to make my clients more secure."

From the hands of a babe, a thief grabbed an iPad, stealing that - and more - from the hair salon.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crimestoppers at 954-493-TIPS.

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