Press release from Asheville Police Department:
Asheville, NC (Feb. 9, 2022): Asheville Police are investigating a carjacking that occurred Tuesday in which a man forcefully removed a 91-year-old female driver from her vehicle and drove off. Fortunately, the driver is okay, and APD officers were able to locate and return her vehicle a few hours later; however, the suspect remains at large.
APD officers were dispatched to the Beverly Hills community around 2 p.m. on Feb. 8 to investigate the robbery. The elderly driver said she was in her vehicle driving towards her mailbox when a man stopped and asked her to take him to a particular location. She then said the man began assaulting her. She told officers she started screaming and kicking, but the man was able to gain control and remove her from her vehicle and then he drove away.
The victim suffered a minor injury to her hand, and Asheville Fire Department checked her for further injuries. She was shaken from the incident, but otherwise okay.
Officers quickly issued a BOLO – Be on the Lookout – for the vehicle. An APD officer conducting crime prevention efforts in West Asheville at Carrier Park located the stolen vehicle a few hours later. He said he saw a while man wearing a white hoodie operating the vehicle, who fled the scene as the officer arrived. The suspect had also removed the license plate of the vehicle before he fled.
The suspect is described as a young white male, approximately in his early 20s, 6 feet tall with a slim build, and wearing a white hoodie jacket.
If anyone has any information about this case, you are encouraged to contact APD at (828) 252-1110. Or you send an anonymous tip using the TIP2APD smartphone application (search “Asheville PD” in your app store) or by texting TIP2APD to 847411.
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