Woman arrested for chaotic carjacking that was caught on video

AGOURA HILLS, Calif. (KCAL/KCBS) - A California woman has been arrested after a violent caught-on-camera carjacking.

Screams for help could be heard and complete panic was felt during the incident, witnesses claim.

Rose Mercer says she just parked next to the car where a woman was trying to steal from another in an Agoura shopping center Friday afternoon.

“When she couldn’t get the lady’s purse from her, she got in her car and she tried to steal the car,” Mercer says.

A good Samaritan held the woman back who was just yanked from her car as the suspect tries to flee.

“She ends up hitting this curb right here where there’s still some glass left over,” witness Fideo Rodriguez describes.

He was working at Union Bank when he ran outside to see what was going on.

“I seen this car drive from First Citizens Bank. She drives over here, crashes into a car over here, this Tesla. She drives around and crashes into another car on this side. She makes another loop, crashes into another car,” Rodriguez describes.

People were screaming and panicking. That is when things really escalated, witnesses described.

The stolen car had an anti-theft device on the steering wheel making it more difficult to drive as the suspect tried to get away.

“I was so scared because she was definitely out of it. She was so determined to get out of here, out of the parking lot that she just kept trying to angle the car,” Mercer says.

The suspect kept going.

“She jumps out the car and some of the people from the grocery store, they basically tackled her right there by our ATM,” Rodriguez says.

Josyln Palmer is one of the three people who held the driver down. She says she tied the driver’s hands with a bandana, tied her shoes together and stayed with her until police arrived.

Witnesses say there was something off about the driver, both during and after the violent carjacking.

“After she got tackled, she just was quiet. They put her in handcuffs and she just acts like a normal day for her,” Rodriguez added.

The Lost Hills Sherriff’s Station says the suspect, identified by investigators as a woman in her 20s, was detained by deputies and transported to the hospital for medical treatment before booking.

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