A pair of would-be teenaged carjackers trying to flee with a stolen car were foiled by old-school machinery: a stick shift.
Detectives in Montgomery County, Maryland, say that the two teens — a 16-year-old from Rockville and a 17-year-old from Washington, D.C. — have been arrested for a “strong-arm carjacking” at a gas station in Germantown, around 25 miles northwest of the nation’s capital.
Surveillance footage shows the young suspects approaching a blue car shortly after the presumed owner gets inside. The driver is forcibly yanked from the car and is seen quickly walking away as the teens get inside the driver and front passenger seats.
Although the teens presumably expected to make a quick getaway at this point, the car remains immobile.
Moments later, they are seen getting out of the car and running away.
The mishap occurred at a Sunoco gas station at around 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, police say.
“The investigation by detectives determined that the adult male victim finished pumping his gas and attempted to enter his car when he observed the juveniles running towards him,” the Montgomery County Department of Police said in a press release. The victim complied when the teens demanded his keys, according to the press release.
“The juveniles entered the victim’s car and attempted to drive away,” the press release says. “Unable to drive a manual transmission, the juveniles exited the vehicle and left the scene on foot.”
Montgomery police officers saw the teens at around 5:00 p.m. on a nearby block.
“When officers attempted to apprehend them, they fled on foot,” the police press release says. “After a brief foot chase, the juveniles were quickly apprehended.”
The teens were arrested and taken into custody. They have been charged as adults with one count of carjacking and one count of conspiracy carjacking, Montgomery police say. They are currently being held without bond.
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