In New Jersey, a Massachusetts man who authorities say knocked an 83-year-old woman to the ground and tried to steal her car in the Sam’s Club parking lot has been charged with carjacking, Freehold Township police said.
Maxim Kuropatkin, 24, of Springfield, Massachusetts, was arrested Monday about 11 a.m. after he crashed the car into a tree and Good Samaritans and Walmart loss prevention officers held him until police arrived, Detective Lt. Scot Hall said Tuesday.
Hall said Kuropatkin first tried to take items from a 52-year-old Freehold Township woman in the Sam’s Club parking lot, but that woman got in her car and started honking her horn, drawing the attention of several other patrons in the lot and scaring Kuropatkin off.
He then approached the 83-year-old Freehold Township resident, who was getting out of her car in the same area. He demanded her keys and knocked her to the ground, then took off in her car, Hall said. But Kuropatkin didn’t get far, Hall said; he lost control and hit a tree.
Several Good Samaritans witnessed the incident and crash and followed Kuropatkin as he got out and ran into the adjacent Walmart store, where he was detained until Freehold Township officers arrived and arrested him without further incident, Hall said… Freehold Patch
