Two similar carjackings in University Place in one week have police on hunt for suspects
Two carjackings this week in University Place have police looking for suspects who both implied they had weapons.
The first carjacking was 8:20 p.m. Monday, Jan. 6, in a grocery store parking lot in the 3800 block of Bridgeport Way. The second was Thursday, Jan. 9, near University Place Town Center.
According to the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department, the Jan. 6 incident began when a man opened the driver’s side door of a parked Kia Forte and entered the vehicle. A woman was occupying the passenger’s seat while her friend, the driver, was shopping inside the grocery store.
The suspect told her to get out. He kept one of his hands inside his pocket.
As the victim exited, she was pulled out of the vehicle by a female accomplice. The female suspect then sat in the victim’s seat.
The two suspects drove away in the stolen vehicle.
The Kia was later recovered after it was involved in a hit-and-run collision on Ainsworth Avenue in Tacoma.
The male suspect in the Kia carjacking was described as black, in his 20s, approximately 5-foot-7 with a medium build. He was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, according to the Sheriff’s Department.
The female suspect was described as black, in her 20s, approximately 5-foot-4 with a heavy build and long dark curly hair.
In Jan. 9’s carjacking, a woman was parallel parking her silver 2013 Subaru Outback at 7:30 p.m. in the 3600 block of Market Place West when a suspect opened the driver’s door and told her to exit, according to the Sheriff’s Department.
When the victim attempted to get her purse the suspect threatened to shoot her. The suspect kept a hand in his sweatshirt pocket.
The suspect fled in the victim’s 2013 Subaru. It has not been recovered.
The suspect in the Thursday carjacking was described as black, in his 20s, approximately 5-foot-6 with a medium build, according to the Sheriff’s Department.
This story was originally published January 11, 2020 at 5:58 PM.
