Bartow Man Steals Amazon Van, Hides In Stranger's House: Sheriff

BARTOW FL — A Bartow man with a length criminal history was arrested and charged Wednesday on suspicion of carjacking an Amazon delivery van.

The van's driver was working in a residential neighborhood near State Road 60, just east of Bartow, when 22-year-old Mario Crawford entered the driver's seat and demanded that the driver get out of the van, Polk County's sheriff alleges. Crawford was clad in a ski mask.

The driver got out, and Crawford drove the van to Radford Road, where he abandoned it, police said.

A Radford Road resident who lives near where the van was abandoned flagged down a nearby deputy to report a stranger had just entered his home, according to a news release. The deputy went inside the home and found Crawford hiding in a bathroom.

Crawford was arrested and charged with carjacking without a weapon, a first degree felony; unarmed burglary, a second degree felony; and grand theft, a third degree felony.

Crawford is also charged with possession of burglary tools, a third degree felony; resisting, a first degree misdemeanor; and wearing a mask in public, a second degree misdemeanor.

According to the release, Crawford was out on probation for possession of a counterfeit check, forgery, uttering a forgery and grand theft at the time of the carjacking. He was also charged for violatio probation.

“The delivery man did the right thing by not resisting the unarmed carjacker. The victim didn’t know if Crawford had a weapon on him, and didn’t know what he was capable of doing," Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said in a statement. "He just knew that an unknown man wearing a ski-mask was demanding him to get out, and that was the safest thing to do. He called and reported it immediately, and we were able to catch him soon-after.”

The sheriff's department said Crawford has a criminal history that includes 17 felonies and 12 misdemeanors, including burglary, grand theft motor vehicle, aggravated battery, theft, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, fraud and more.