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Shortly after 11 a.m. Wednesday, Takoma Park resident Estela Strickland walked out of her house in the 900 block of Anne Street to find a fresh layer of snow covering her sport utility vehicle. In the driveway next door, her neighbor was busy wiping off his car and the two exchanged a few pleasantries.

"We were talking about how much snow we had had and cleaning off our cars when I went to my backyard to get my broom," she said.

With her neighbor standing so close and the sun bright, Strickland thought little of leaving the key in the ignition to defrost the icy windows. Returning to her driveway within minutes, Strickland was shocked to find her SUV — a 2010 Acura RDX — had been stolen.

"I turned my back and somebody just took off with my car," she said. "My next-door neighbor was still right there, cleaning his car, and I asked him, ‘What happened to my car? Who took my car?' and he looked up and said, ‘Estela, I thought it was you.'"

Within minutes, Takoma Park police arrived and interviewed a neighbor who described a man walking in the area at the time of the theft, according to city police.

Soon after the theft, police posted a notice with a description of Strickland's Acura and license plate number on the FBI's National Crime Information Center database system, allowing police departments to identify the SUV as stolen by checking its license plates, police said.

Strickland didn't have long to wait for good news; at about 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, officers from the Metropolitan Police Department found the Acura in the 1000 block of Otis Street in Northeast Washington, D.C., said police spokeswoman Officer Istmania Bonilla.

Police Capt. Marvin Lyons, who works in the department's Fifth District where the vehicle was found, said police arrested two people, but did not release their names because they are younger than 18.

Additional details, including what led the officers to inspect the Acura and where the juveniles were arrested were not available, police said.

Thursday morning, Strickland was awaiting the return of her SUV from Takoma Park police, using her free time to place a few calls to security companies. While grateful, Strickland said she is fearful.

"It happened so quickly," she said. "I'm happy they found my car very quickly, but I'm scared now ... I'm trying to get a security camera or something put up in my driveway, or it could happen again."

jarias@gazette.net