RAMSEY — Police stopped a stolen minivan in a Twin Cities suburb and found a driver who claimed she was in labor and some of her seven children with their mouths taped shut.

An officer stopped the vehicle in Ramsey, Minnesota, just after midnight Tuesday for a traffic violation and learned it had been stolen. The driver was taken to a hospital.

Ramsey Police Chief Jeff Katers said Thursday children range in age from infancy to 9 years old.

Katers says two men were in the van, including the children’s father, who was arrested for failing to return the rental vehicle in Missouri. The other man was released.

Katers says the children were playing with the packing tape and fell asleep. He says it’s not clear who put tape on their mouths.