Alleged carjacker gets caught after taking manual car and not being able to drive stick
Police reckon a would-be carjacker had his alleged attempt to steal an Audi A3 foiled because he didn't know how to drive a vehicle with a stick.
Prosecutors claim Andrew Moran, 25, then legged it through the streets of Chicago, Illinois, after the embarrassing bungle but kept the car keys on him.
This wound up thwarting him a second time, police say, as the car keys had an AirTag tracker attached to them.
Talk about a massive fail.
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Police told the court that Moran allegedly knocked on the victim's car door as she sat in the parking lot of the 4800 block, North Milwaukee, at around 12:25pm on March 17.
He kept his hand in his jacket pocket, which caused the woman to believe that he had a gun or some other kind of weapon.
Prosecutors told the court Moran then advised her to get out of the car as he 'needed' it because someone would kill him if he didn't.
She ran to a nearby store to call for police while Moran allegedly entered the car and struggled to get it moving thanks to its manual gearbox.
According to prosecutors, as sirens could be heard approaching the scene, the 25-year-old gave up and legged it.
They added that the whole thing was caught on camera.
Cops tracked the woman's AirTag and realised Moran still had the keys on him when they saw it was travelling along the city's Blue Line train.
Moran was intercepted at Addison train station and arrested.
Police claim they found the woman’s keys still inside the train car, with a witness telling officers they saw Moran drop them as officers arrived at the scene.
Prosecutors also said the 25-year-old spat in a police officer's face and kicked other cops both during his arrest and while at the police station.
His court-appointed public defender told the court Moran has three children at home.
His defence attorney added that Moran may be experiencing a mental health episode after undergoing recent head surgery.
Moran was charged with vehicular hijacking and aggravated battery of peace officers during a court hearing.
He was ordered by a judge to pay a USD$15,000 (AUD$22,482, £12,275) bail deposit if he wished to be released from jail for electronic monitoring.
Rachel Lang