Modesto police have arrested a grandfather who used his car to ram a forklift and another vehicle and flee the scene of an alleged burglary while caring for his two-year-old grandson.

On the morning of 18 May, an employee at a Modesto retail outlet of Orchard Supply Hardware LLC observed the suspect stealing power tools and pulled the store's forklift behind the man's car in an attempt to halt an escape.

After a bit of manoeuvring and without placing the child in a seat restraint, the perpetrator drove away, dropped off the boy at a relative's house and, on the basis of witnesses recalling the licence plate number, was apprehended within minutes at his home.

The Toyota-brand forklift has a lifting capacity of 2,500 lb. (1,125 kg), according to Rick Saunders, director of marketing at corporate headquarters of the San Jose, California-based hardware store chain.

Police charged John Guadalupe Martinez, 65, with robbery, child endangerment and assault with a deadly weapon and booked him into the Stanislaus County jail in Modesto. He was being held on bail of USD100,000 pending a 22 May court appearance.