Police Charge Man Accused Of Carjacking HPD Cruiser

HOUSTON, TX — A 29-year-old man who tried to steal a KPRC news van before carjacking a Houston Police Department patrol cruiser has been charged with multiple felonies.

Alex Allen Jenkins was arrested on the University of Houston campus several hours after he allegedly carjacked a police car in downtown Houston. He is in the Harris County Jail charged with aggravated robbery and assault of a peace officer.

Jenkins is accused of ramming a stolen car into the side of a KPRC news van as they waited at a traffic signal at Texas Avenue and Chartres Street in downtown on Monday morning.

Photojournalist Damon Sales, who was driving the news van, told police that Jenkins tried to force him and news anchor Sofia Ojeda out of the van.

As the incident was unfolding, two Houston Police officers who were transporting a 16-year-old juvenile pulled up to the scene. Police said Jenkins attacked one of the officers and managed to get into the patrol car and fled with the juvenile in the backseat.

Jenkins dropped the 16-year-old off about two blocks away and fled the area, who later turned himself into police.

Police found the police car about two hours later abandoned in a field near Old Spanish Trail and Produce Row.

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Image: HPD

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