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Carjackers Caught Because They Couldn't Drive Stick

There’s a meme on the Internet that portrays a picture of a gearshift lever for a manual gearbox, and its caption writes “best theft deterrent in the USA.”
2017 Nissan Sentra SR Turbo - not the kind that was stolen by the carjacker 1 photo
Photo: Nissan
That meme did not come out of thin air, as many thieves in the U.S. have abandoned vehicles with manual gearboxes shortly after they tried to steal them. The funniest examples asked the owner for a ride, while others asked directions on how to drive a stick from the person they were robbing.

As we have previously remarked in similar circumstances, some individuals are not cut out to do some jobs, and being a carjacker who cannot drive a manual will make anyone the laughing stock of the world and the penitentiary that will confine him or her.

The latest culprit is from Cleveland, and he managed to steal three cars at gunpoint in a 10-day span with the help of accomplices. Two of those armed carjackings were done in a single hour, just days after he posted a $10,000 bail for another theft.

The first car he stole was a 2004 Nissan, but was caught two days later. At the time, he was helped by three men, who took the owner’s keys and sped away.

A few days after making bail for that offense, he and a 17-year-old boy stole another car from a woman who was getting out of her automobile. They pulled an airsoft gun and drove away in the car.

Just an hour later, the two thieves tried to steal another automobile, and they even threatened to kill the 23-year-old man who owned it.

This time, the 17-year-old got behind the wheel, but he did not manage to drive a stick shift, so he pointed the gun at the owner and asked for instructions.

Apparently, being held at gunpoint does not bring out the best stick shift teaching methods from the man, who could not manage to get his teen robber to understand how to drive the car he tried to steal from him. The pair of thieves settled on grabbing the man’s mobile phone, and they ran off on foot, Cleveland.com notes.

Police apprehended the pair shortly after, as the phone they stole was tracked by the officers in Cleveland, who asked the train operators to lock the doors until they arrived. The 18-year-old thief is in custody, with three counts of aggravated robbery and a $100,000 bond.
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About the author: Sebastian Toma
Sebastian Toma profile photo

Sebastian's love for cars began at a young age. Little did he know that a career would emerge from this passion (and that it would not, sadly, involve being a professional racecar driver). In over fourteen years, he got behind the wheel of several hundred vehicles and in the offices of the most important car publications in his homeland.
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