Police have charged a 24-year-old man after a car was stolen in Melbourne’s south-east with a toddler on board on Monday afternoon.

The father of the toddler stepped out briefly from his car as it was parked on Cleeland Street in Dandenong, following an altercation with another vehicle.

The car was then stolen, while the man’s two-year-old son was in the back seat.

He was later found unharmed at a supermarket in Ferntree Gully, and was reunited with his parents.

The car was located abandoned in Coldstream later on Monday evening.

Police said a 24-year-old Dandenong man was arrested on Tuesday afternoon and has been charged with child stealing, theft of motor vehicle, unlicensed driving and commit indictable offence whilst on bail.

He will face a Melbourne Magistrate’s Court tonight.