CLAYTON - A man and woman from Franklin County have been charged with stealing a van with two sleeping children inside on Saturday afternoon in Clayton.

The children, ages 1 month and 15 months, were not injured, Clayton Police Chief Glen B. Allen said in a news release Monday.

Robert Dale Rose, 49, and Christie Lynn Coffman, 31, both of 166 Osage Road near Louisburg, were charged with first-degree kidnapping and larceny of a motor vehicle, the news release said. Rose was also charged with driving while impaired and driving without a license.

A Raleigh woman told police she left the children in her unlocked 2005 Honda Odyssey van with the keys in the ignition while she stopped at a business at 12973 U.S. 70 Business. Two people took the van and drove away, Allen said.

Police stopped the van on U.S. 70 Business near Amelia Church Road, about two miles away, Allen said. The driver pulled over for the police car and was arrested without incident. A female passenger fled on foot but was quickly caught.

Rose and Coffman were both jailed with bail set at $200,000.

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