Police: Man arrested after trying to steal car in Brentwood with 2 kids inside

A Ronkonkoma man allegedly tried to steal a vehicle left running Tuesday afternoon in Brentwood with two young children inside, the Suffolk County Police Department said.

The father of the children, ages 5 and 6, left them in the 2025 Volksagen about 4:45 p.m. while he went into the Bougatfa Zero smoke shop on Suffolk Avenue, the police said in a news release.

Mustafa Attia, 23, then allegedly got in the Volkswagen and "and tried to drive away," the police said in the release. After the father spotted Attia, he and a shop employee "ran back" to the vehicle "and attempted to pull Attia out of the car," the release said.

Officers who had responded to multiple 911 calls arrived and pulled Attia from the Volkswagen, according to the police. Attia was arrested and charged with attempted grand larceny, two counts of endangering the welfare of a child and seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance.

He was transported to South Shore University Hospital in Bay Shore for evaluation "and will be arraigned at First District Court in Central Islip on a later date," police said in the release. Defense attorney information for Attia was not immediately available late Tuesday.