A long-running joke among those who grew up before automatic transmissions were as prevalent is that a manual transmission’s stick shift operates as an anti-theft device that foils robbery attempts by younger people who do not know how to operate such vehicles. Though mainly a joke, that turned into reality on Thursday, October 5, in San Antonio, Texas.
There, an alleged carjacker faces the swift hammer of justice at about 2:45 a.m. when he tried to carjack a local, but then could not figure out the manual transmission of the vehicle he was trying to steal. While attempting to learn on the job, he was shot.
News on that comes from local news outlet KSAT, which reports that the alleged carjacker stole the vehicle but then quickly had to ditch it because he could not manage to operate the manual transmission. After ditching the stick-shift car, the suspect then tried to flee to the car of another suspect. While fleeing, the owner of the carjacked vehicle opened fire and hit him.
The KSAT report further said the bullet that hit the suspect went through the headrest of the getaway vehicle and grazed the suspect in the head. He and his accomplice were able to flee despite the gunfire, however, and he eventually made it home. His family then called emergency authorities and he was taken to the hospital. San Antonio Police Department investigators arrested the suspect at University Hospital.
Sadly, San Antonio is no stranger to vehicle-involved violence. Recently, for example, a police officer was struck by a suspect while attempting to apprehend a trespasser. Posting about that incident on Facebook, the San Antonio Police Department said:
🚓👮🏾 On 09/24/2023, a NISD Officer was dispatched to the Northside ISD Aquatic Center for trespassers inside their facility. The NISD Officer located 3 males, who all fled from him. Two of suspects got into a white Ford Mustang. When the Officer attempted to stop the males in the vehicle, they drove towards him and struck him. The NISD Officer fired one round from his duty weapon, before falling onto the ground. The suspect that did not get into the vehicle was apprehended. The other two males are still at large. Detectives are asking for the public’s assistance in identifying the two remaining suspects. The officer that was struck by the vehicle has recovered from his injuries and is doing well. Please call SAPD Homicide unit at 210-207-7635 with information. 🚓🚨
Similarly, over the summer, a carjacking in San Antonio turned deadly. Three juveniles attacked an 80-year-old man while attempting to carjack him, and their vicious attack left the man dead from brain bleeds, a broken nose, broken ribs, and a collapsed lung.
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The family members of the murdered man noted that the judge was seemingly siding with the criminals rather than the victim, saying, “The judge, George Shaw has let the teens out with ankle monitors. So, therefore, we are not doing any interviews. We still feel like victims with no justice,”