ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – Deputies were searching for a man considered "extremely dangerous" who fled after crashing a car they stole in Central Florida on I-95 near St. Augustine, according to the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office.
The carjacking occurred just after midnight Tuesday at a Walgreens in Winter Haven, which is between Orlando and Lakeland. A 50-year-old woman who just left work and stopped at Walgreens before heading home was sitting in her vehicle texting her son.
SURVEILLANCE: Carjacking outside Walgreens
At that time, a man wearing a hooded jacket was seen pacing a couple times in front of the car. Two minutes later, the man approached the driver's door and opened it, demanding the woman get out.
When she looked up, she was facing the barrel of a gun while the suspect demanded her vehicle, according to Winter Haven police. As she attempted to get her purse and get out of the vehicle, the suspect demanded she leave the purse and cellphone inside.
Video shows the suspect placing the woman on the ground and telling her to stay there.
Once the suspect got in the driver's side, another man wearing a hooded jacket ran over to get in the passenger side. They drove off and the woman ran into Walgreens to call 911. She was not injured.
About four hours later, a Florida Highway Patrol trooper was conducting a patrol on I-95 near State Road 207 in St. Augustine when he noticed a dark gray Toyota Corolla traveling about 108 mph on the interstate on I-95.
The driver crashed in a median when the trooper attempted to pull him over. Three people in the car at the time all ran off after the crash.
Two of them were captured, including John Crist, 19, of St. Augustine and Mariah Gage, 16, of Wahneta.
A third suspect, William Bradley Summerlin, 18, was not found.
Gage was picked up by the other two suspects in Winter Haven after the carjacking, Winter Haven police said. She told detectives the group made plans to steal a car to head to Jacksonville to "hit a lick," which means to commit a robbery.
Gage was reported missing as a runaway on February 23. She was also wanted for violation of probation by the Polk County Sheriff's Office.
FHP recovered a revolver inside the vehicle that's believed to have been used in the carjacking in Winter Haven. It has not yet been determined when Crist and Gage will be returned to Polk County, where Crist has been charged with armed robbery and burglary.
Summerlin is considered extremely dangerous. Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to call Heartland Crime Stoppers at 1-800-226-TIPS. Callers can remain anonymous and could be eligible for a cash reward up to $3,000.
News4Jax News4Jax crime and safety analyst Gil Smith said the woman did what she needed to do to stay safe.
"At that point, there's nothing else to do," Smith said. "There are several of them and they have guns. Give them what they want. You just want to make sure you're safe. Don’t fight with them or try to chase after them."
Smith added that the woman might have avoided becoming a victim in the first place if she had paid attention to her surroundings.
"She's sitting in the car with it idling. You never want to do that because carjackings occur in parking lots, gas stations, convenience stores -- any place where someone could be sitting in the car," Smith said.