72-year-old in fear of driving after man steals her car, takes police on multi-county chase

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A 72-year-old woman who was the victim of a Tuesday carjacking that ended in the suspect being killed in a crash says she doesn’t want to drive anymore since she was carjacked.

According to an incident report, a 72-year-old woman told the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office she offered to give a ride to a stranger at a gas station after he said he needed to get to the University of North Florida.

She told News4JAX Wednesday she was handing out water from her trunk when the man got into the back of her car.

“Somehow he opened up my trunk, I mean my car door. That’s how he got in my car door. He sat in the back saying he wanted to go to UNF,” she said.

The incident report also states the stranger then asked her to take him to Walmart on Lem Turner instead as he kept changing his mind on where he wanted to go.

Then, he said he was lost, the report said, so she stopped at the intersection of Stephenson Drive and Edgewood Avenue, where he took the car from her, which led several law enforcement agencies on a multi-county chase on Interstate 95 toward Flagler County.

The man who deputies said was driving erratically crashed into a semitruck trailer and died from his injuries just south of the Bunnell exit in Flagler County.

Despite being shaken up, the woman said she was heartbroken to hear that the man was killed.

“I really feel saddened for the victim that stole my car, carjacked it and left with it and you know got in the crash. I really feel sorry for him,” she said.

The woman also hurt her arm in the carjacking.

“I thank God I did not get seriously hurt,” she said. ” A lot of people thought I would have.”

She said she is moving forward but isn’t sure if she will continue to drive or get a new car, at least not right now.

“Being too empathetic for people sometimes, we get caught up, ladies. We have to be cautious,” she warned.