A woman shot an alleged car thief Dec. 19 in a gas station parking lot in Kentucky after tracking her vehicle via cellphone, according to local police.
The woman and her boyfriend first reported their Ford Fusion as stolen in Ohio, according to the Fort Mitchell Police Department (FMPD). The couple tracked the car to the Kroger gas pumps in Kentucky using an app on her phone, FMPD said.
“During a confrontation between the vehicle’s owners and the alleged thief, one of the owners produced a handgun and fired a single shot which struck the car thief in the neck,” FMPD said in a news release.
The man was transported to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center for “treatment of a non-life-threatening wound of undetermined cause,” FMPD said. (RELATED: Teens Crash Stolen Car, Killing 6-Month-Old Baby: Police)
The woman said she fired the gun “in defense of her boyfriend’s life,” police said. Her boyfriend “entered the passenger side of the vehicle” during the confrontation, and the alleged thief attempted to drive away with him in the car, according to FMPD.
A couple tracked their stolen car to a busy Kroger gas station in Fort Mitchell and confronted the alleged thief with a gun with police describing what happened next as absolute chaos.https://t.co/zsl4YyeEKb pic.twitter.com/FlAL5hu0aa
— Local 12/WKRC-TV (@Local12) December 20, 2023
The alleged thief attempted to flee with the car but crashed into a red pickup truck, WLWT reported. The truck’s owner was reportedly shopping inside the Kroger at the time of the incident.
No arrests were made, and the case will be directed to the Kenton County Grand Jury, FMPD said. FMPD’s investigation is still ongoing.
“Regardless of whether the Grand Jury chooses to charge the car owner with a criminal offense, this was not the appropriate way for the owner to handle the situation,” FMPD Chief Rob Nader said. “The appropriate response would be to call police and let us handle it.”
“No one’s life is worth a Ford Fusion, so let the professionals recover the car to minimize the risk of anyone being injured or killed,” he added.