PLACERVILLE – At 2:30 in the afternoon on March 20, a carjacker stole a car from the Center Street Garage. A family, including an infant, were the victims.
The female driver sat in the running car when a male suspect opened the driver’s side door and pulled her out of the car. The other 2 occupants also got out of the car.
The family father came out of City Hall nearby, tried to confront the carjacker. However, the suspect intimated that he had a gun in his waistband, so the father backed off and the thief drive away down highway 50.
Apparently the suspect unsuccessfully tried to switch cars and steal another one on Green Valley Road.
Video surveillance from the parking garage led police to identify 32-year-old Joseph Smith as their man.
At 9:38 that night, the Sacramento Police Department located the stolen car and arrested Smith, charging him with carjacking and setting his bail at $1,000,000.
