Toddler ejected from SUV during dramatic police chase

Video footage shows 1-year-old standing, walking before falling back down

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>> a toddler in lubbock, texas, is lucky to be alive after being reject fredded from an suv in a dramatic crash. natalie with that story.

>> good morning, ann. that came after a police chase when a young man was robbed at gunpoint. what police did not know at the time, there was a one-year-old girl in the back of the vehicle. the dramatic ending to the chase was caught on a police dash-cam which shows an suv flipping several times and coming to a terrifying stop. a one-year-old girl ejected from the vehicle and then miraculously stands up on her own. minutes before the crash, police say 17-year-old man and three other teens ages 14 through 16 allegedly robbed 19-year-old girl in a restaurant parking lot. she says he demanded she hand over the purse but she tried to give him her cash $10.

>> he said hand over your purse. not thinking i said no. he said i will show shoot you.

>> she said she quickly handed over her purse. before the suv sped away she noticed three other teens and a toddler in the vehicle.

>> he was getting in the car and i said, all that with a little baby in the back seat. called police and chased the suspect in what they say was a stolen suv . as the suv flipped again and again, the toddler was ejected out of the back window. the little girl stood up and tried to walk back to the suv . she stumbled and fell. one of the suspects then got out of the suv and grabbed the child. two of the suspects were seen running down the street with the child and were later caught in a woman's backyard.

>> ran this way, that way. it made me worry because a little baby girl , something serious.

>> police say he's the father of the child and the toddler's teenager mother was one of the 16-year-old suspects also in the stolen vehicle when it crashed with the little one-year-old girl inside.

>> meanwhile they have been charged with unauthorized use of a vehicle, evading arrest and other crimes. the child treated with minor injuries and reportedly staying with other relatives.

>> natalie, thank you so much.

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By Scott Stump

TODAY contributor

updated 6/13/2012 1:11:32 PM ET

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In a dramatic video released by authorities in Lubbock, Texas, a 1-year-old girl is ejected from an SUV following a police chase and is lucky to have escaped with only minor cuts and bruises.

Following an alleged robbery last weekend, a group of four teenagers took police on a chase that ended with the SUV flipping over several times — all of which was caught on a police cruiser’s dashboard camera.

Incredibly, after being thrown through the back window of the SUV, the toddler can be seen standing up and walking a few steps before stumbling and falling back down.

The girl was then scooped up by one of the suspects, who tried to flee police with the child in her arms before being captured by authorities in a woman’s backyard along with another suspect. The toddler was treated at a local hospital for minor injuries and is now staying with relatives.

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The 1-year-old is the daughter of 17-year-old robbery suspect Kenny Shawn Jimenez, according to police. The toddler’s 16-year-old mother was also one of the suspects in the vehicle, police said.

Jimenez and three other teens, ages 14 through 16, allegedly robbed Chelsea Betenbough, 19, in a restaurant parking lot before eventually fleeing police. Betenbough said Jimenez demanded that she hand over her purse even after she tried to give him her cash.

“He turned around and was like, ‘No, give me your purse!’ and me not really thinking, I was like, ‘No,’ ” Betenbough told NBC News. “He said, ‘I will shoot you, give me your purse.’ ’’

Betenbough handed over her purse, and before the SUV sped away, she noticed a toddler inside with the three other teenagers.

“He was getting in the car and I just said, ‘All that with a baby in the back seat?’ ’’ Betenbough said.

Betenbough immediately called the police, who tracked all of the suspects down after the chase and the crash. Jimenez is still in police custody, and he and the other three teenagers have been charged with aggravated robbery, injury to a child, unauthorized use of a vehicle, evading arrest and organized crime, according to police.