Shoplifter carjacks woman at Annapolis mall www.privateofficer.com

Annapolis MD July 30 2010 A woman who county police believe was carjacked outside Westfield Annapolis mall Tuesday afternoon has come forward.
County police said an armed shoplifter who was being chased by loss prevention officers from Westfield Annapolis mall opened the back door of a car passing through an intersection and got inside. The woman behind the wheel drove about 50 yards before stopping. The man got out and was arrested.
Justin Mulcahy, a county police spokesman, said the unidentified woman contacted police this morning after learning officers needed to speak with her. She was being interviewed this afternoon so police could learn what exactly happened when a shoplifter, running from mall security, got into the woman’s moving vehicle on Bestgate Road.

At about 3 p.m. a man used a box cutter to cut a cell phone and MP3 player off a display at the Sears store in the Parole mall.

Loss prevention officers saw the theft and chased the shoplifter through the mall, out the Lord & Taylor store, through the parking lot and across Bestgate Road, said Justin Mulcahy, a county police spokesman.

The shoplifter ran to a light-colored, four-door sedan, possibly a Toyota Camry, which was stopped at an intersection. The driver, a woman, tried to drive away, but the shoplifter opened the back passenger door and jumped inside.

The woman drove about 50 yards before stopping near Industrial Drive. Witnesses told police the shoplifter then jumped out of the car and tried to run.

Security officers then caught up with him. Police said he pulled out the box cutter and swung it at the officers, but they were eventually able to get him under control and hold him on the sidewalk.

Police arrived at the scene to investigate and were informed of what happened.

Arthur Tyler Felton, 38, of 101 Victor Parkway in Annapolis, was arrested and charged with theft, two counts of assault, drug possession and carrying a concealed, dangerous weapon.

He is being held at the Jennifer Road Detention Center in Parole on $150,000 bond following a bail review hearing at District Court in Annapolis yesterday.

According to electronic court records, Felton servedabout halfof a 30-year sentence for the 1991 murder of a 6-year-old girl in Baltimore. Records show he violated his probation in 2006,shortlyafter his release from prison.

Surveillance footage captured from outside a nearby business shows Felton running to the sedan, opening the back door on the driver’s side and getting into the vehicle as the woman tried to drive away.

Police said after Felton got out of the vehicle, the woman continued driving and did not stop or call for help.

Police asked for the public’s assistance in identifying the woman so they could get more information, and seek additional charges for attempted carjacking and other offenses, Mulcahy said.

Until today, police only had witness accounts and surveillance footage to go on.
Source:HometownAnnapolis.com