A ride to the park ended for one California family when a burglary suspect climbed out of the back of their SUV, frightening children and apologizing.

“They were just screaming,” said Shannon Carter, the mother of three of the four children in the SUV when the suspect finally showed himself. “So my head was spinning.”

“We were screaming our heads off,” said young Sydney Carter, who was sitting just inches away from where the stow-away was hiding. Shannon said police were searching for a burglary suspect in her neighborhood just minutes before the incident.

She locked her house, but said the suspect must have quietly slipped into her SUV when the garage door was open. Shannon, her three daughters and friend then piled into the SUV and drove to Morse Park in Elk Grove.

When they go into the parking lot, one of the children noticed something in the back of the vehicle.

“I see pants,” Shannon said one of the children yelled. “And then I think that’s when he popped up.” Once the man showed himself the girls started screaming.

“They went flying,” said Shannon. “They unbuckled seat belts and came flying forward in hot second.” Shannon opened the door, letting the girls out. The suspect quickly followed trying to calm the frantic family down.

“I am not going to hurt you, I am not going to hurt you. I will not hurt you, he said it four or five times,” Shannon recounted what the man said to her as he left the vehicle. The Sacramento County Sheriff’s department confirmed they were looking for a burglary suspect in the neighborhood where Shannon lives.

After the man fled from Shannon’s vehicle at Morse park, she quickly called 911, despite being asked not to by the man stowaway who apologized for giving her family the scare of their lives.
“It was like out of a horror movie”, said Shannon. “Where the guys just comes up from behind the seat.”