APOPKA, Fla. (WSVN) — It was a different kind of pain at the pump for a woman who was taken for a ride when somebody hopped behind the wheel of her rental SUV in Central Florida, leading authorities to make an arrest.
Surveillance video of Wednesday night’s carjacking at an Exxon Mobil gas station in Apopka is tough to watch.
Witness Morning Leveille, described the frightening moments when a woman was attacked and her vehicle was stolen.
“It was obviously like a harrowing incident,” she said.
The driver of a light colored Toyota sedan is seen getting out and walks toward the victim, who was pumping gas.
A few seconds later, Leveille noticed the man get in the driver’s seat of her SUV and start to take off, and the woman still hadn’t finished filling her tank.
“She was like, ‘Get out of my car, and he said, ‘No,'” said Leveille, “and then they threw a couple of punches, and he drove off, which eventually flung her out of the side of the car door.”
Gas was still spraying from the pump when the carjacker sped away.
“I saw her, and I asked her if she was OK from the other side of the street,” said Leveille, “and she said, ‘No, I just got carjacked.'”
Witnesses and a store clerk were able to tend to the woman’s injuries on her arm before officers arrived.
Hours later, authorities arrested 31-year-old Andrew McClellan, who had made it to Daytona Beach in the woman’s rental.
“She was alone in the gas station parking lot, and that’s probably why he chose her as a victim, because she was isolated,” said Leveille.
McClellan is no stranger to the law. Police arrested him at the end of August related to burglaries at two Orlando businesses.
The state attorney dropped one of the cases after concluding it wasn’t “suitable for prosecution,” and they took too long to file formal charges in the second case.
A judge let McClellan out of jail in late September … five days before the carjacking.
McClellan is being held on several charges, including vehicle grand theft and battery on a law enforcement officer.
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