Yet another car was spared from the clutches (see what I did there) of thieves after suspects assaulted a Bethesda, Maryland restaurant owner and attempted to steal his manual Porsche 718 Boxster before stalling it twice and ultimately giving up.
The Boxster’s dash cam recorded several armed suspects jumping out of a red Nissan Rogue and rushing restaurant owner Myo Maung, reportedly pistol-whipping him and demanding he hand over his phone and password, and his car keys. One suspect then hops into the Porsche, and the dashcam video shows the car start and stall once, then start and stall a second time before cutting off. Fox 5 DC reports,
In Montgomery County, head of Montgomery County Police Department’s Major Crimes Division, Captain Sean Gagan says police have responded to about 82 carjackings so far this year. The county had a total of 79 reported in 2022.
“We are focusing very heavily on the locations that border the Washington D.C. and Prince George’s County line by placing additional resources with our uniform patrol and our plain clothes assets down in those areas to try and address the growing number of vehicles that we’ve seen either carjacked or that have been stolen,” Captain Gagan said.
“I really, seriously encourage people to stay aware of their surroundings at all times,” he added.
“A lot of times just driving around, we see people on their phones. And this is one of those things our criminals are looking for as well.”
Maung was not injured following the attack, but he did have to run for cover inside of his restaurant and said he heard at least one shot fired outside.
Montgomery Police noted that the Nissan Rogue used by the suspects was stolen out of D.C. earlier the same day as this attempted carjacking. It is suspected that the Rogue followed Maung from D.C. to Bethesda in order to execute the attack.
I was raised in a busy city near Los Angeles and I have never been comfortable leaving my car unlocked and/or unattended for any period of time. Preventing situations like this is very difficult and requires acute vigilance of your surroundings – check your mirrors and proceed with skepticism if you even suspect someone is following you. Stay alert, stay safe, and consider rowing your own gears to fend off modern carjackers.