WINTER PARK, Fla. – An armed carjacking sparked a chase with law enforcement on Interstate 4 this week, according to the Winter Park Police Department.
In a release on Wednesday, police said that the carjacking initially happened in the 2500 block of Aloma Avenue.
Afterward, a vehicle pursuit broke out along I-4 near mile marker 112, crossing through Orange, Seminole and Volusia counties.
An arrest report from Florida Highway Patrol detailing the chase states the stolen truck reached speeds of 127 mph. Yawn weaved through traffic and repeatedly attempted to hit a trooper’s patrol vehicle, the report states.
James Yawn, 38, was ultimately arrested after troopers used a PIT maneuver to stop the stolen pickup on I-4 near Orange City.
After the crash, Yawn refused to identify himself, according to the report. He allegedly told a law enforcement officer his name was “Messiah” with a Dec. 25 birthday, then said his name was “Seth” and that he was the “Son of Adam,” before eventually giving a fake name and date of birth.
Troopers noted several signs consistent with cannabis impairment in their report: red, bloodshot and watery eyes; dry mouth; dilated pupils; a discolored tongue with raised taste buds; and eyelid tremors. Yawn said he uses cannabis daily and consumed it before the carjacking, according to the FHP report.
An arrest affidavit for Yawn obtained by News 6 reveals what he reportedly told investigators about what happened in the hours leading up to the carjacking. The affidavit says that Yawn claimed he had recently lost his job and believed he had uncovered $450 million in money laundering, and that the “Mexican cartel” was now following him.
Yawn claimed he went to a restaurant in Osceola County, but left before eating because he believed a cartel member was watching him, according to the affidavit. He then went to a cannabis shop near the University of Central Florida, purchased an eighth of cannabis and “smoked all of it,” the affidavit states.
The affidavit goes on to describe how Yawn claimed he then drove to a hospital in Winter Park off Aloma Avenue and considered checking himself in but decided against it. Instead, the affidavit says, he parked his personal truck nearby and burglarized a home — entering through an unlocked window, lying on a bed and taking photographs and a birthday card off the walls. He told troopers he accidentally left a black 9mm Smith & Wesson firearm on the bed before leaving. Yawn also told troopers he then robbed a gas station nearby before the carjacking incident. News 6 has reached out to Winter Park Police to determine whether the alleged home burglary and gas station robbery have been verified.
Ed, a witness who asked that only his first name be used, said he and his 22-year-old daughter, and two other men had just finished dinner at the Panera Bread on Aloma Avenue in Winter Park around 7:30 p.m. when they heard a woman calling for help in the parking lot.
“She’s saying, ‘Help! Somebody help!’” Ed recalled.
Ed said he initially thought it was just an argument between the elderly woman and man, but the situation escalated quickly.
“It escalated to where he pushed her down on the ground,” Ed recalled. “I still thought it was a domestic dispute until we got, like, within 5 or 6 feet. And then they were still wrestling. He was wrestling her or throwing her on the on the ground. At that point, he got her purse. He took off towards her pickup truck, a white Toyota Tacoma. And, I guess he couldn’t find the keys. So, he came back and started asking for her keys.”
Ed said he and another man grabbed the suspect to pull him off the woman. That’s when everything changed.
“I grabbed from one shoulder — we lifted him up. At that point, he stepped back and he said, ‘Stay back’ to us. And he pulled up his shirt. That’s when I saw the pistol grip inside of his shorts,” Ed said.
Ed said the suspect then pointed the gun directly at him before grabbing the woman again.
“As he was taking her towards the truck, she took the keys and threw them up in the air, away from the truck, at which point he let her go. He went, got the keys off the floor, and then he got in the truck and he left,” Ed said.
When asked if he was afraid for his life, Ed said fear for himself never entered his mind.
“It didn’t really concern me if I got shot. I was more concerned with my daughter getting shot,” he said.
Ed said his daughter is still very shaken up.
“That’s a miracle from God that we were able to talk about it the next day because, you know, it very, very easily could have gone very sour,” Ed said.
At a first appearance hearing in Seminole County Thursday, a judge set Yawn’s bond at $61,000 total. As conditions of bond, Yawn is prohibited from possessing weapons, firearms, ammunition or controlled substances without a valid prescription. He is also required to wear a GPS monitor and must surrender any firearms to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office within 48 hours of release.
As of Thursday afternoon, Yawn is being held at the jail in Seminole County on the following charges:
- Fleeing/eluding police with disregard of safety to persons or property
- Aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer
- Use/display of a firearm during commission of a felony
- DUI
- Operating a vehicle 50-plus mph over the speed limit
Winter Park Police say additional charges are forthcoming for crimes committed within their jurisdiction, including armed carjacking, kidnapping with a firearm, armed robbery, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, tampering with or harassing a victim, criminal mischief greater than $1,000, fleeing and eluding law enforcement, and battery.