Police have been on the hunt for four suspects after a senior citizen broke two bones during an attempted carjacking at about 6:40 p.m. March 29 in Capitol Heights, Maryland.
In a Thursday press release, the Prince George’s County Police Department requested assistance from the local community to help solve the attempted carjacking and released footage of the incident. The victim, a female senior citizen that police did not identify, was shoved to the ground by the suspects, who then demanded she hand over her car keys, the police department said.
VIDEO: Detectives release video of four suspects who assaulted a senior citizen in an attempted carjacking. Read more: https://t.co/hnvpMdrIAa pic.twitter.com/E4bvd3J9xE
— PGPDNEWS (@PGPDNews) April 7, 2022
The woman, who had just returned home from running errands, was assaulted twice during attempted carjacking incident, according to the video released by the police department. The victim’s keys were taken during the initial attack, after which time the suspects started to flee the scene, the police department said.
As the victim attempted to seek help from a neighbor, one of the suspects allegedly returned and tackled the senior citizen to the ground in what Prince George’s County Police Chief Malik Aziz described as a “truly disturbing” and “vicious” attack, The Washington Post reported. The suspects fled the scene without taking the vehicle, according to WBAL TV.
Aziz appealed to the community for assistance in capturing those involved in this crime. “Our seniors deserve to be treated with dignity and respect and not be violently accosted in our neighborhoods where we live peacefully,” he said in the press release. (RELATED: Man Arrested After Allegedly Fatally Running Over His Wife With SUV)
“We need our community’s help in arresting these suspects so that they may be brought to justice and held accountable for their senseless act of violence,” Aziz added. “We are asking the community to look at this video and the pictures of the suspects and call us with information.”
Local authorities have raised concerns over the increasing amount of carjackings that have taken place in recent years and assembled a unit designated to investigating and preventing them, according to The Washington Post.
The Prince George’s County Police Department urged people with information regarding the March 29 incident to “call the Carjacking Interdiction Unit at 301-516-3788 or Crime Solvers at 1-866-411-TIPS.”