A car thief called the police after he discovered a young boy asleep in the vehicle he had just stolen in a gas station in Melbourne, Australia.

The police have expressed appreciation to the still unidentified car thief, who stole the vehicle in the Berwick petrol station when the owner left the engine running when he went to buy a newspaper.

Upon noticing a four-year-old boy inside, he dumped the car outside a supermarket at nearby Eden Rise shopping center and called the police.

Sergeant Colin Clarke described the acts of the thief as "responsible" in making sure that the boy remained unharmed.

He said, "I think it was purely a crime of opportunity, seeing a car pull up, keys in the ignition and the engine running and took his chance."

He added, "We understand that this was not an abduction or a child stealing, that it was simply a theft of the motor car and that the child was just an unfortunate passenger in the whole event."