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Seattle Man Had To Explain How To Engage Reverse To His Carjackers

A manual transmission is a genuine theft obstacle in some cases, especially in places where many people do not know how to use one.
BMW X5 E70 gear selector 11 photos
Photo: BMW
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A Seattle man has probably discovered the worst carjackers in the world, as they did not know how to use an automatic transmission in a modern BMW. Fortunately for him, they did not use their weapons against him, but they did crash his 2007 BMW X5 E70 into a fire hydrant and ditched it on train tracks.

The two assailants are a 15-year-old boy and a 17-year old girl. At the time of apprehension, the girl was the only occupant of the vehicle, but she eventually gave up her accomplice after police officers learned that she had an assistant. It all happened this August, in Seattle.

An unnamed man had just parked his BMW X5 in the driveway of his house. As the man exited the SUV, he was approached by the two defendants. The 17-year-old girl pulled out a black pistol and pointed it at the owner of the vehicle. She requested that the man handed over the keys to the car.

The male assailant then asked for the victim’s cash, which amounted to almost $600. The robbers then told him to lie down and stay there well after their departure.

The teenage Bonnie and Clyde just had to get in the car and drive away. It was reckoned to be an easy job, since they had the keys, and the second-generation BMW X5 did not even come with a manual gearbox in its offering.

However, their lack of experience with cars, in general, led to a funny problem - they could not get the vehicle into reverse. According to the victim, it took them about 30 seconds before they asked him to explain how to shift the X5 into reverse.

Having a firearm pointed at him probably eliminated any laughter from the driver, even though it is unclear whether the gun was loaded or real. These days, it is getting tough to tell, especially from six feet away.

With a brief lesson on the control of the BMW gear selector for automatic gearboxes, the two teens drove away in the 2007 X5. Unfortunately for the owner, the teens were not that good at driving, so they crashed into a fire hydrant shortly after a police car spotted them and engaged pursuit of the white X5.

The vehicle was stopped in the tracks of the BNSF railroad, which are located in the 6200 block of Airport Way South. Both assailants will be charged as minors through the juvenile court. The girl was reported as missing in Kentucky, but her mom could not be reached, SeattlePI notes.
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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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