Daytime Carjacking At Kohl's Shocks Elk Grove Residents
ELK GROVE (CBS13) - Police in Elk Grove are looking for a man who carjacked a woman at gunpoint Monday at a busy shopping parking lot.
However, an alert driver may have interrupted the crime before the suspect was able to get too far with the victim. The driver began following the car and honking the horn, causing the suspect to pull over and steal the victim's purse before jumping out of the car.
Police say a Kohl's employee was sitting in her car taking a break when a man approached asking for a cigarette.
"Just in broad daylight in a busy parking lot," Officer Chris Trim said.
Suddenly he pounced, forcing a gun through the open window and threatening her, making her get into the passenger seat so he could drive.
Investigators tell CBS13 that once the suspect got into the vehicle, he tried to back out but couldn't. Another car was blocking his way and that's when the young lady escaped.
Fortunately, she wasn't hurt but the suspect got away with her car.
"After the crime the victim ran into the store and was visibly shaken," Trim said.
She told her fellow employees to call 911.
"Oh, was this in the afternoon? I am worried about that," Elk Grove resident Cathy Brown said.
"That's insane," another resident said. "That's actually really crazy that it even happened."
A security guard roams the parking lot now, watching over employees and customers, but after the carjacking incident... Some families feel even less secure.
"I get really paranoid, but now I'm probably going to be even more scared just to come to my car," Brown said.
Police say the suspect may still be driving the woman's car, a 2002 maroon Mitsubishi Galant, California license plate 5EEW575. He's considered armed and dangerous.
