Deadly Carjacking Raises Questions and Fears : Crime wave: Commandeering of cars is on the increase. San Diego has had 171 cases this year, as the nationwide trend continues.

The escape of convict Johnaton George, who killed a motorist as he fled police, was a new twist on an increasingly widespread crime: Carjacking.

The nation’s major cities have reported an increase during the past three years in this terrifying version of car theft, a behind-the-wheel mugging that can leave a hapless driver stranded, injured or dead.

Officials say the crime, sweeping the nation from east to west, is increasing in San Diego, where more than 171 carjackings have occurred so far this year. But this week, authorities grappled with the first fatal version of the crime in the county.

Typically, as in the case of George, the robber puts a gun to the head of the driver. Other times, they use knives, sharpened screwdrivers or bats. Or, they stage a “bump and run”--a fender bender that gets the unwitting driver out of his car.

Usually the gunman wants the car, whether it’s for a short joy ride, an escape from the mugging that has just been committed, or resale of the vehicle. In George’s case, it was the desperate escape of a violent man.

The deadly carjacking Monday night was “definitely not the norm,” said Sgt. John Leas of the San Diego Police Department’s Robbery Unit. “It falls within a carjacking but it was really a form of escape for a very serious criminal. That normally wouldn’t be what we are seeing throughout San Diego.”

After freeing himself from his chains and overpowering a sheriff’s deputy, George ran to a Radio Cab taxi driver and bit his face as he struggled to commandeer the taxi. Thwarted, George ran on, stopping at a maroon 1989 Honda Civic carrying two men that was halted by a red light. He told the men to give him the car. But the driver, Michael Champion, 28, refused.

Champion and his passenger, Mark Dodd, had seen George assault the taxi driver and they thought he was trying to mug the man, Dodd said. As they sat “contemplating going back” to help, George ran up, Dodd said.

Neither he nor Champion realized that George had a gun, said Dodd, 22. The two men had each drunk about two beers in two hours and their judgment wasn’t affected--they simply couldn’t see a gun, Dodd said.

“We had just rolled to a stop and (George) jumped onto the driver’s side. He tried to leap inside the car. The door was locked but the window was down all the way and he was hanging in with one arm,” said Dodd, 22. “He starts ordering Mick, he says, ‘Gimme the car, man. Gimme the car.’

“Mick kinda under evaluated the situation. It appeared that the guy was a vagrant. We couldn’t have foreseen where he was coming from, that he had escaped from a sheriff’s van. There was no time to interpret. It just looked like a potentially physical conflict.

“Mick said: ‘No. Go away, get off,’ ” Dodd said. “At which point, he (George) takes this other arm and pulls out a handgun and shoots him point blank, right in the head. It was a tremendous explosion. . . . Panic took over. I remember trying to feel around the door for the lock. I found it, pulled it up and ran away from the car as fast as I could.

“I didn’t look back. In my heart, I knew Mick was gone that instant.”

In the vast majority of carjacking cases here, the drivers have complied with the robbers’ demands. Usually, they are left standing by the side of the road, watching in shock as some complete stranger drives off in their vehicle. Champion’s reaction may have cost his life, police say.

For police, incidents of carjacking are difficult to prevent because they are so random.

“It’s not like you can do something pro-actively,” Leas said. “These things are popping up all over the city. We are not seeing the same suspects, not the same victims. There’s nothing really consistent to grab onto and do good police work.”

“In 1992, it is realized that the problem is much more widespread than originally believed,” said Michael Kortan, an FBI special agent and spokesman in Washington.

The increase here and nationwide in carjacking has been fueled, in part, by the trend in anti-theft devices. As more and more people use car alarms and steering-wheel locks, small-time car thieves are being frustrated, police say. For them, carjacking is a no-muss, no-fuss method of doing business.

“People are becoming very good at protecting their cars when they are not around,” said Lt. Michael Wolfe of the La Mesa Police Department. “Now we have a car with keys in the ignition, ready to go, and it only takes someone to go up with a weapon and demand the car. It’s very quick.”

In most San Diego carjackings, the crime is akin to a mugging, with the suspect intent on snatching the driver’s personal possessions as well as his car--a phenomenon that local police say has increased from 161 cases in 1990 to 171 cases so far this year.

“The primary target is what the person has on--a wallet, purse, jewelry, and keys to the car,” Leas said. “It’s a crime of opportunity.”

In fact, 80% of hijacked cars here are found within one week, he said. Nationwide, however, the cars often are taken to “chop shops,” where the vehicles are broken down and sold for parts.

Though police have not identified a pattern, there are some characteristics to carjacking: Most occur between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. As in Champion’s case, the driver is usually forced out at a stoplight, on a freeway ramp or in a parking lot.

Though the robbers--usually in their 20s or 30s--are typically armed, they sometimes ram or throw stones at a car, making the unwitting driver get out to inspect for damage.

In San Diego County, unlike most other major cities, carjackers don’t seem to prefer expensive cars. Here, police say, any vehicle--no matter how junky--is fair game. In La Mesa, for instance, where police recently experienced a spate of five carjackings, the last vehicle snatched was a 1972 Chevrolet.

“It wasn’t a high-dollar-amount car--it was a 20-year-old vehicle that certainly wouldn’t bring a lot of money on the open market,” Wolfe said. “But it is transportation.”

Ironically, on Monday--the day of George’s carjacking--the House passed legislation making armed carjacking a federal offense punishable by up to 15 years in prison. Sponsors of the bill have predicted that the Senate will approve it.

Public outrage over a Maryland woman’s death gave impetus to this legislation. In that case, thieves pushed Pamela Basu, 34, from her car. Trapped in her seat belt, she was dragged along the pavement for 1 1/2 miles. The robbers later put Basu’s 22-month-old daughter out at the side of road.

Carjackings Nationally

Not all police departments keep statistics specifically on carjackings and other stolen cars, and those that do have numbers for differing time periods. Available counts in major U.S. cities:

City Number Period San Diego 171 Jan. 1-Oct. 7 Baltimore 75 since Jan. 1 Cleveland 560 in the past year Dallas 817 since January Detroit 695 Jan. 1-Oct. 3 Houston 220 since Jan. 1 New York 926 Jan. 1-July 1 Philadelphia 200 since Jan. 1 Washington 245 Jan. 1-Aug. 6

Source: FBI How to Avoid Carjackers

The San Diego Police Department has some tips that could make motorists less likely to become victims of carjackers:

Be aware of your surroundings, especially people who may be approaching your vehicle.

Drive with your windows closed and your doors locked.

Park in well-lighted areas to shop, buy gas or discharge passengers.

Stop in well-lighted, populated area to exchange information if you think you’ve been in an accident.

Do not risk your life. If someone with a weapon demands your vehicle, give it up.

Source: San Diego Police Department