A carjacker was on the loose Wednesday night after jumping into a car and driving away from the parking lot of a Millenia Target as the owner was cleaning it, police said.
The incident was reported at about 5:30 p.m. in the 4700 block of Millenia Plaza Way, the Orlando Police Department said.
The car’s owner told investigators that he was cleaning the vehicle when a young man jumped in and drove away.
Joel and Melissa Manion arrived at the Target moments after the carjacking and saw the victim lying in the parking lot.
“We saw the man lying on his back with his shoe off and a crowd around him,” Joel Manion said.
The victim didn’t seem to be seriously injured, Melissa Manion said.
“They were just getting on the phone with (what) sounded like EMS,” she said. “He seemed to be OK (but) I felt bad for him.
“I’m sure the holidays have a lot to do with it, but it’s just sad.”
A second carjacking was reported outside an Orange City restaurant in Volusia County Wednesday night, bringing the number of carjackings to four in the past three days.
Cox Media Group
:quality(70)/s3.amazonaws.com/arc-authors/cmg/409f0ae7-063b-47c8-bf9b-855db9b35dde.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/WQ27IEQX4ZCSHHOV5SDI3RPS5I.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/EPITFP4YHRHSDBGVLWFOVKARXE.jpeg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/ZRBUBVWFNJFXJP6ZQG2ANEROVE.png)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/GRZGPKEIUVHVFAVEGSOJSRA6JQ.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/YF753AK4SVB5DN4D7A7KM67JLA.jpeg)