LAKE COUNTY, Fla. – A man is facing charges after Lake County deputies said he attacked a 92-year-old woman and stole her car.
Lake County deputies said the carjacking happened Nov. 22 at a Dollar Tree parking lot in Mount Dora on U.S. Highway 441.
“He says, ‘Give me two dollars.” I said, “No, I’m not going to give you two dollars,’” said the victim. “He got angry and he really whopped me. And I like spun around and fell slept on my face, on the cement.”
Deputies said they found the 92-year-old woman bleeding and battered in the parking lot.
The woman told deputies someone beat her and forcibly stole her 2007 red Lincoln MKX.
The woman said she was leaving the store with her purse, two bags and balloons when a man, later identified as 19-year-old De’Angelo McKnight, approached her asking for money, according to the arrest report. She declined and that’s when McKnight started shouting at her and asking “where are your keys,” the report states.
The victim said he continuously punched her, striking her multiple times in the head, shoulder and chest area until he eventually knocked her down to the ground, according to the report. She told deputies she saw the 19-year-old lean into her car looking for her keys. When she tried to get up and stop him, he kicked her several times to keep her down, deputies said. McKnight eventually found her keys and took off with her car, leaving her bleeding and battered in the parking lot as she cried for help.
Deputies said two witnesses rushed to help the woman and called 911.
The victim was bleeding from her forehead and also had a cut on her left index finger, blood on her left knee and had a bruise on her left, according to the incident report. She was taken to the hospital.
[LISTEN TO 911 CALL BELOW]
After the attack, the victim’s sister went to check on the victim’s home on Park Forest Boulevard and the garage door was open and the front door was unlocked, according to deputies. The victim told investigators she remembered closing the doors before leaving to go to Dollar Tree, saying the carjacker likely ransacked her residence while she was hospitalized since they had the keys to her home.
Deputies say it is unknown if anything of value was stolen from the home.
Eustis Police became involved in the case when they made an attempt to stop the stolen vehicle. The two law enforcement agencies collaborated to try to stop the speeding SUV, the report states.
Deputies say the SUV drove through multiple stop signs while speeding away from law enforcement through Eustis. A Lake County Sheriff’s Office helicopter eventually helped investigators track down the vehicle as it was pulling into the Winchester Estates subdivision.
McKnight along with other men were seen leaving the SUV and entering a black vehicle in a driveway in the 2500 block of East Washington Street. The car tried to evade Eustis police, leading officers and deputies on another pursuit throughout Lake County.
During the chase, a witness told dispatch keys were thrown from the rear right passenger window. Another officer collected the keys and learned they belonged to the stolen red Lincoln MKX.
Investigators deployed stop sticks at County Road 439 and Magnolia, damaging the tires and slowing down the car. The vehicle eventually lost a tire and slow-rolled to a stop at County Road 44 and County Road 44B in Eustis, officers said.
McKnight was found sitting in the rear passenger seat, where the keys were reportedly thrown from, investigators say.
Deputies identified the driver of the vehicle as 19-year-old Jamicah Forsythe.
Forsythe was taken to the Lake County Jail on charges of fleeing to elude with wanton disregard for safety and operating a vehicle with no valid driver’s license.
McKnight was arrested on carjacking charges. He’s also facing battery on a person 35 years older, grand theft, identity theft of personal information and burglary to an unoccupied dwelling.
The victim said that she is thankful the situation wasn’t any worse.
“I had that moment of fear that he was going to kidnap me and take me away, do whatever. But, other than that, I was just angry that he tried to do this to me,” said the victim.