Passenger reportedly steals car from driver while stopped at Crescenta Valley High
A man was the victim of a carjacking in La Crescenta last Wednesday after the passenger he was transporting reportedly drove off with his vehicle.
The incident happened around 10:20 a.m. after a late-model silver Lexus pulled into the parking lot of Crescenta Valley High School. According to an incident report from the Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Station, security cameras were able to capture the crime as it happened.
The footage showed an unknown man on his phone leaving the passenger side of the vehicle, followed by the driver.
“Approximately 10 seconds later the suspect runs into [the victim’s] vehicle,” according to the incident report. “[The victim] runs towards his vehicle and attempts to stop the vehicle from backing up by standing behind it.”
The car’s owner was forced to move out of the way as his vehicle was driven off by the suspect. The report said he attempted to hold onto the car’s door handle as it was moving but was dragged along for several inches, injuring his right leg.
The sheriff’s incident report said the driver worked for a business that picked up clients from Los Angeles International Airport and gave them tours of Los Angeles. He told deputies he was giving the passenger one of these tours when the carjacking happened, according to the report.
According to the report, a deputy talked to the victim’s manager who said the driver was scheduled to pick up a man from Rosemead and take him to LAX, but it’s unknown if the passenger was that same man.
A phone number associated with the ride reservation was discovered to have been computer generated, according to the report.
Twitter: @Andy_Truc
