Angry Car Owner Slams the Door on Theft Suspect

Would-be car thief Maurico Aranjo had a tough day Monday, police said.

First, he broke off a screwdriver in the ignition of the car he was trying to steal, police said.

Then, when he slid to the passenger seat to try to wrest the tool free, he found himself face to face through the side window with 5-foot, 3-inch, 115-pound Susan Garfinkle, the car’s owner. Garfinkle slammed her black penny loafer against the car door, trapping Aranjo while she called police on her cellular phone.

“I was so mad, I said to him, ‘Don’t even think about moving,’ ” Garfinkle said. “I’ve had enough.”

Garfinkle, 41, of Woodland Hills, had gone to an address in the 4500 block of Woodman Avenue for a business meeting. She was headed to lunch in a colleague’s auto when the group of four drove past Garfinkle’s parked car.

“I looked over and thought, you know, it looks like someone is in my car,” Garfinkle said. “But then, the way the sun was shining, I thought no, I’m not really seeing this.”

But another look and Garfinkle had no doubt. She yelled for the driver to stop, hopped out and went into action.

It may have been the memory of the anger she felt the last time someone broke into the car, or of the time two years ago when it was stolen. Whatever, that anger got the best of her, Garfinkle said later.

“That poor car has been to hell and back,” Garfinkle said. “I didn’t want him to get away with it. Not me, not again.”

So she thrust her foot against the door, yelled for a colleague to hand over her purse, lit a cigarette and dialed 911 on her cellular phone. Her colleagues and a number of passersby quickly gathered around the car.

Officer Luke Magee, who booked Aranjo on a charge of grand theft auto, said it looked as though Aranjo was more frightened of Garfinkle and her friends than of what might happen to him once police arrived.

Said Garfinkle: “He was sweating bullets.”

But reflecting on her afternoon victory, she said the whole experience was somewhat bittersweet.

“I have to give the car back to my husband in February anyway as part of my divorce settlement” she said. “I should have just let the guy have it.”