Police have arrested a man who allegedly stole two cars with children inside – including two babies – along the Great Eastern Highway in Western Australia.

CCTV footage shows a woman run after a shirtless man as he jumps into an orange Kia Sportage and closes the door before driving away near Gatacre Drive in Kalgoorlie at 4.05pm yesterday.

“She was screaming at the person that stole our car,” the woman’s daughter Amelia Politis told 9News.

“Please don’t do anything, my son’s in the car, and just kind of repeating that over and over again, and he just apparently did not care.”

As the car drove away, the woman was briefly dragged before she let go of the door handle.

The mother had left her son in the air conditioning as she dropped off cans and bottles at a recycling depot.

“She’s basically got injuries kind of all along her body,” Politis said.

“She’s got grazes on her arms, her legs, on her feet.”

Politis’ brother eventually jumped out of the moving car when the thief turned onto a dirt track.

“I was so happy when I found out he jumped out of the car because he’s nine,” she said.

“It could have been so much worse. I’m just so happy they’re both safe.”

Minutes before the orange Kia was stolen the man had allegedly nabbed another car with two toddlers in the back.

The wanted man was eventually taken into custody this afternoon.