Man gets consecutive sentences after taking two cars, one with baby still inside

SALT LAKE CITY — When a man got into a woman's car, driving off with her 8-month-old son inside, she said her sense of safety was stolen.

Although the man stopped when he realized there was a child, bringing the child back and taking the car, the mom said she was traumatized and has emotional wounds.

"I understand that (the man's) intention may not have been to steal my child, but you cannot explain that to a mother's nervous system. You cannot tell my heart that my baby wasn't being kidnapped. In these moments, all I knew was that my son was gone, trapped in the car with a stranger, and I had absolutely no way to protect him," a statement written by the mom and read in court on Monday said.

Carlos Daniel Castellanos, 24, was sentenced on Monday to consecutive prison sentences. He was sentenced to one to 15 years for aggravated robbery, a second-degree felony, and in a separate case to zero to five years in prison for burglary of a dwelling, a third-degree felony.

Third District Judge Heather Brereton told the man that the facts in both cases were "very troubling."

"I do appreciate that you stopped and gave the child back to its mother, but it remains a robbery, and that's what you pled to," she said.

Charging documents said on Aug. 7, 2025, the woman was standing outside her parked car at the underground parking structure at the Gateway, 62 S. Rio Grande, when Castellanos got into the drier's seat intending to steal the car. Charges claim the vehicle stopped at the top of the parking garage, allowing the woman to take her child from the back seat, before continuing to drive away.

The woman later reported one of her credit cards in the vehicle had been used, helping police locate Castellanos.

After being taken into custody, Castellanos told detectives that he "hopped into a car" and "just decided to pull away," according to the charges.

The mom was pregnant and fell on her stomach while running after her car; in her statement, she said she was worried that she would lose both of her children.

"That fear is something I will carry with me for the rest of my life. People think that once property is recovered or replaced, life returns to normal; it doesn't. The items that were stolen from my car can be replaced; my sense of safety cannot. The crime changed the way I live, it changed the way I parent, it changed the way I see the world," the mom said in the statement.

She said she never imagined a normal day could become her worst moment, and she now lives those moments again when she stops at a gas station or buckles her children into their car seats.

"I know (Castellanos) may never fully understand what he took for me that day. He may remember stealing a car. I remember believing I was watching my child disappear forever. I want the true impact of this crime to be understood," the statement said, asking for a sentence that will reflect the emotional consequences she will face the rest of her life.

Castellanos said he wants the victims of his actions to know he is "genuinely sorry" and committed to making amends. He said he is making steps to change his actions.

His attorney, Tyler Knudson, said he was "fully unaware" a child was in the back seat of the car and stopped as soon as he noticed. He explained there was drug use involved.

In response to a second robbery charge, the attorney said the charge would most likely not have been filed if Castellanos had not been so open with police. Charging documents said on May 2, 2025, he was found driving a stolen car.

He later admitted to police that he had broken into a home the night before and had eaten food and taken care keys, they said.

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