Arrest Made in Attempted Carjacking

Police have made an arrest in a recent attempted carjacking. Daryl Stewart, 25, of Fredericksburg was arrested in the 2300 block of Cowan Blvd. over the weekend and charged with attempred carjacking, attempted robbery and providing false information to police to avoid arrest. 

According the city police spokesperson Natatia Bledsoe, Stewart was arrested without incident after information gathered over the course of the investigation revealed that Stewart was known to frequently stay in the apartments next to the police station. When approached, Stewart initially provided an incorrect name to police. Police are still searching for three other as yet unnamed suspects who were with Stewart the day of the attempted carjacking.

The incident began on Saturday, May 28 at about 5:15 p.m. as the victim was walking from a tobacco shop in the Fredericksburg Shopping Center at the 500 block of Jefferson Davis Highway. 

According to police, as the victim was walking toward the car, he noticed a group of four men loitering around his BMW 3-Series. Two of the suspects were in a gold Ford Ranger pickup truck, the other two were out of the truck standing next to the victim's car. The victim told police that as he neared his car, one of the suspects, who police later identified as Stewart, made a threatening comment about carjacking the BMW. Stewart and the other suspect then returned to the bed of the pickup truck and started to depart. 

The victim then responded to Stewart's threat, prompting Stewart and a second suspect to jump back out of the truck and surround the victim's car, yelling at the victim and demanding his car keys. The victim refused to give them up. 

Police say that Stewart inserted his hands into the victim's pants pockets in search of the keys. The victim continued to resist, at which point police say that Stewart then brandished a folding knife while demanding the keys. The suspects blocked in the victim's car in the parking lot with their truck before the victim was able to inch past his assailants. 

The victim then drove south of Route 1 before turning on to Cowan Boulevard with the intention of driving to the police station to report the incident. The suspects followed the victim until it became apparent that he was headed to police, at which point they broke off their pursuit and made a getaway. 

Afterwards, the victim told police that he first saw his assailants just prior to the incident leaving the tobacco shop. Police were able to identify Stewart through his use of a credit card at the tobacco shop. The victim later picked Stewart's photograph out of a police photo-lineup.