Carjacker Attempts to Flee With Elderly Man's Car But Didn't Know How to Drive Stick Shift: Police
A Florida man was arrested in Orlando after allegedly stealing a car from an elderly man on Tuesday, but the would-be carjacker didn’t make it very far.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Office say, Jaylen Alexander, 25, didn’t know how to drive a car with a manual transmission, and was forced to abandon the alleged crime after stalling the stolen vehicle several times.
According to CNN, Alexander approached the elderly man’s vehicle — where the keys already in the ignition — as the victim went to put his walker in the trunk of the car.
That’s when cops say Alexander began to assault the man — slamming the trunk on the victim’s chest before getting into the driver’s seat and locking the car doors while attempting to drive off and flee the scene.
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CNN reports the car thief stalled multiple times as he tried to drive away, but ultimately gave up and fled on foot. The elderly victim reportedly told authorities that the reason Alexander was unsuccessful in stealing his car was due to the fact that the young man didn’t know how to drive a stick shift.
Alexander then tried his luck once again across the street several minutes later — this time successfully stealing a vehicle from a woman who had left her car running as she went to pick her mother up from a health care clinic, the sheriff’s office told Florida CNN affiliate, WFLA.
Alexander was caught and arrested across town after a brief police chase, deputies told the news outlet.
He was charged with carjacking, battery on a person age 65 or older, as well as grand theft of a motor vehicle, according to Orange Country court records.
A search for Alexander’s name on the Orange County public records shows a separate February arrest in Bithlo, Florida for which he was arrested and charged with grand theft and resisting an officer without violence. The records also include an 2017 arrest for probation violations and a 2015 arrest for grand theft from a residence or dwelling.
