Watch CBS News

Man Reportedly Carjacks Vehicle With Woman Asleep Inside; She Escapes, He Carjacks Again

CARMICHAEL (CBS13) - A man carjacked two vehicles and assaulted a passenger and a store clerk in Carmichael before being arrested early Thursday morning.

The Sacramento County Sheriff's Department says the incidents happened in just a matter of minutes.

Martel King
Martel King (credit: Sacramento County Sheriff's Department)

At around 3 a.m. a man got out of his car to pay for gas. His wife was sleeping in the car and woke up, but it wasn't her husband behind the wheel. A man later identified as 25-year-old Martel King had hopped in and only drove about 20 yards away from the AM-PM station on Madison and Manzanita when the woman either pulled out the key or broke it off, according to deputies.

"It's actually pretty shocking," gas station customer James Pothier said.

The carjacker reportedly punched the woman in the face a couple of times, got out of the car and broke its windows.

""She was punched in the face and she has some pretty good injuries to her. Kind of uncalled for," Deputy Todd Hoganson said. "If you want the car, fine. You don't need to go roughing people up."

He then ran back to the gas station where he punched the clerk in the face and stole his car.

"The clerk here at the station was also punched in the face, ended up falling down and may have hurt his head, so he was taken to the hospital to get checked out," Hoganson said.

The manager of the gas station says all of the activity happened out of view of the surveillance cameras.

But King didn't get far. Sacramento police stopped him a few blocks away for speeding and took him into custody.

He was booked into the Sacramento County Jail on $230,000 bail.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.