LAGUNA HILLS : Woman Hurt Trying to Stop Carjacking

In the county’s fifth carjacking this week, a woman was dragged a short distance late Thursday as she tried to stop a man from stealing her vehicle at a service station, authorities said Friday.

U.S. Customs agents on Friday arrested 35-year-old John Oldman at the U.S.-Mexico border on suspicion of committing the crime, which occurred at a Chevron station at the corner of Alicia Parkway and Hon Avenue, said sheriff’s Lt. Bob Rivas.

Linda Gorum, 32, was pumping gas into her 1991 Mazda minivan Thursday at 7:44 p.m. when “a man approached and asked her for a cigarette and without warning, he jumped into her van which had the keys left in it,” Rivas said. “He started the van and was putting it into gear when (Gorum) began to struggle with him and tried to prevent him from taking it.”

Two customers standing nearby saw the incident and joined Gorum in her struggle with the man.

Gorum, of Mission Viejo, was leaning into the van trying to prevent the man from putting the vehicle into gear and was dragged about five feet before falling to the ground when the man drove off. She suffered cuts and bruises and had pain in her left arm but refused medical treatment, Rivas said.

Thursday’s carjacking was the latest in a series of such crimes reported in Orange County this week.

On Wednesday night, a 41-year-old La Palma man was shot in the mouth during an attempted carjacking shortly after pulling into the driveway of his home.

The other incidents occurred between Sunday afternoon and Tuesday morning in Huntington Beach, Orange and Santa Ana.

In those three cases, the victims, all of whom were also robbed, gave up their cars willingly and were not injured.

Authorities advise anyone confronted by a carjacker to give up the car.