Video Shows Teens Attempting to Steal Car Before Discovering Manual Transmission

Two teens were arrested and charged after they attempted to steal a car in Germantown, Maryland. And the whole thing was caught on video.

According to a statement from the Montgomery County Police Department, the carjacking took place on March 25 at 4:36 p.m. at a gas station. The two suspects, a 16-year-old and 17-year-old approached a man who was pumping gas into his car at a Sunoco station. The teens opened the driver’s door, removed the man from the vehicle, and demanded the keys before climbing into the car. The victim adhered to their orders. 

The pair then realized the car has a manual transmission when they tried to drive off. When they couldn’t operate the vehicle, they exited and fled on foot. At around 5 p.m., authorities spotted the juveniles and made efforts to capture them, though they evaded arrest. Police then chased the teens on foot and took them into custody.

The suspects have been charged as adults with one count of carjacking and one count of conspiracy carjacking. They are in jail without bond.

Carjackings have been on the rise recently. According to a report from the Council on Criminal Justice, carjackings have increased by 29 percent since the pandemic. While motor vehicle thefts were down prior to 2020, they shot up that year, with Americans seeing $7.4 billion in losses because of thefts, per the FBI. “Added to these direct costs are the costs of other crimes, such as robberies, burglaries, and drive-by shootings, that motor vehicle thefts help to facilitate,” according to the CCJ.