By By Sheila Blackmon/The Meridian Star
June 9, 2001
Meridian police are investigating an Eighth Street carjacking that occurred Thursday night while a woman was pumping gas. An 8-year-old boy was in the car when it was taken.
Lt. Wade Johnson of the Meridian Police Department said the crime occurred about 9:50 p.m. at Texaco Food Mart, 6410 Eighth St.
The child, a relative of the woman, was recovered unharmed.
The woman told police a black man wearing a dark blue shirt and light blue jeans approached her while she was pumping gas. Johnson said the man then pushed her, got in her car and fled.
The woman tried to get back into her car and was dragged a short distance but was apparently not injured, he said, because she was able to come to the station later and give a statement.
Police issued an immediate alert for the child and car.
State Trooper Herman Bouldin of the Mississippi Highway Patrol was in the area and spotted the car near 47th Avenue and 16th Street, Johnson said.
Bouldin pursued the vehicle for a few blocks. The pursuit ended near 48th Avenue and 12th Street, where the man abandoned the car and fled on foot. The child was found in the car unharmed.
The suspect was last seen running east toward 45th Avenue, Johnson said.
The suspect is in his mid 30s to late 40s. He weighs about 160 pounds, and is between 5 feet 7 inches and 5 feet 9 inches tall with a dark complexion, a mustache and long goatee.
Johnson said police are treating the carjacking as an isolated incident.
People need to be aware of their surroundings, he said, and in this case it "would have been good for the keys to have been removed from the vehicle."
Anyone with information about this crime can call the Meridian Police Department's Criminal Investigations Division at 485-1859 or 485-1893 or CrimeStoppers at 485-1860.
Sheila Blackmon is a staff writer for The Meridian Star. Call her at 693-1551, ext. 3275, or e-mail her at sblackmon@themeridianstar.com.