Results for: Carjacking

Micah Atkins, the ringleader of a 2023 carjacking in Grand Rapids, Michigan, has been sentenced to 15 to 30 years in prison. Two 17-year-old girls were carjacked on January 12, 2023, when they stopped to check their phones for directions. The teens approached the SUV and asked for a ride to a gas station, but then demanded $20 and pointed metal objects at the girls, which they believed to be guns. The girls were forced to drive to a different location and then ordered out of the SUV. They immediately called 911, but the SUV was lost during a brief pursuit. It was later found after it crashed into a Grand Rapids police cruiser. All four teens in the SUV fled but were later apprehended. The victims testified about the traumatizing impact the carjacking had on their lives, expressing fear and mistrust. Judge Christina Elmore emphasized that Atkins made a deliberate choice to commit the crime and rejected his attorney’s pleas for leniency based on his age.

A rideshare driver narrowly escaped a carjacking attempt in Palo Alto, California, on Monday night after a dramatic chase involving a suspect vehicle and three assailants. The incident occurred shortly before 1:00 AM when the victim, a man in his twenties, picked up a fare on Forest Avenue. A suspect vehicle suddenly pulled ahead of the victim’s car and stopped, and three men emerged and approached his vehicle.

A 21-year-old man, Dondrey Jackson, allegedly robbed a motorist on Bergen Avenue in Jersey City on Tuesday afternoon, stealing a van at knifepoint. Within a mile, a police officer spotted the vehicle and seized it, resulting in Jackson’s arrest.

A third person of interest, Kevin Ocasio Justiniano, has been arrested in Puerto Rico in connection with the deadly carjacking of Katherine Altagracia Guerrero De Aguasvivas in Winter Springs, Florida. Justiniano, 28, was taken into custody by U.S. Marshals for unrelated drug trafficking and weapons charges. He is believed to have been the driver of the green Acura seen in the now-viral video of the carjacking at a busy Winter Springs intersection on April 11. Investigators believe that Jordanish Torres-Garcia, another person of interest currently in custody, brandished a firearm and approached Aguasvivas’ vehicle. Justiniano’s case and Torres-Garcia’s case will be referred to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for charges of carjacking resulting in a death.

An 81-year-old Vietnam veteran, Ernie Aimone, was the target of a carjacking in Chicago. The community has rallied around him, raising over $61,000 on GoFundMe and providing support at his place of employment, Joe’s on Higgins, where he has worked for 40 years. With the funds raised, Aimone was able to purchase a brand-new Volkswagen Tiguan. The dealership has also pledged to provide lifetime servicing for his vehicle.

Chicago Police Officer Luis Huesca, 30, was fatally shot outside his home in Gage Park early Sunday morning. During the attack, his gun and car were stolen. Huesca’s death comes just two days before his 31st birthday and in the same area where his colleague, Officer Andrews Vasquez-Lasso, was killed in the line of duty last year. No suspects are in custody at this time.

Rochester authorities are investigating three separate homicides that occurred over the weekend, including a livery driver who was found dead early Monday morning. Mayor Malik Evans expressed disappointment that the city’s homicide-free streak for April has ended and appealed to the community for any information that could assist in solving the crimes. Police Chief David Smith stated that most homicides in the city are the result of retaliatory disputes but did not provide specific details about the current incidents.