Car theft is a massive problem all over the country. Some thieves target car showrooms, and others go after private owners. However, what’s usually true is that there’s no one occupying the vehicles they’re trying to steal. Sadly, this wasn’t the case in New York recently, and now a man is sitting behind bars with a $100,000 bail for his crime.

This instance of car theft was even more dangerous than most cases

According to News 12 Westchester, Edward Keegan, 34, committed car theft on the morning of February 21st. He did this by entering a car that wasn’t his as it was parked at a shopping center. What made matters worse was that there was an 82-year-old woman inside the car during his attempt at stealing it. Naturally, this created a frightening environment, which saw the woman and her relative try to stop the man. 

Regarding the attempted car theft, the relative said, “He wouldn’t let her out of the car as she was screaming, ‘Let me out!’ My sister jumped in front of her car and stayed there screaming and banging to give my mom time to try to get out as he was punching my 82-year-old mother in the leg and grabbing her arm.” The report says they were parked in front of a Chinese restaurant. Notably, this was right before noon that day. 

Eventually, the woman was able to get out of the vehicle. However, the car theft suspect could be seen on surveillance footage hitting her and one of the relatives with the car as he sped off. Still, his perceived victory was short-lived as he crashed the vehicle near the scene of the crime. From there, police arrested the man. He initially faced charges of grand larceny, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, harassment, and reckless endangerment. He was still behind bars as of February 25th.