A Connecticut teenager was arrested after he allegedly stole an occupied car at a cemetery and drove at a group of funeral goers before striking a 10-year-old girl on Sunday, the Hartford Courant reported.
The botched carjacking occurred when Frederick Sowell, 18, hopped into a standing vehicle at Mount St. Benedict Cemetery in Bloomfield, according to a police report obtained by the newspaper. Sowell started the car and drove away- with an 86-year-old passenger still inside.
Fearing for her life, Elvira Curti jumped out of the car just as Sowell was driving off, the report reads. All of this occurred in front of the vehicle's owner, Anne-Marie Rabbett, who parked the car near the cemetery's main office, left the keys inside and went to buy water for some flowers.
"Anne-Marie stated she then saw Elvira opening the front right door of her vehicle and literally jumping out of her vehicle," the report reads according to the Hartford Courant.
Rabbett tried to stop Sowell by grabbing him through the open car door, but he pushed Rabbett away and drove off. He made his way through the grass and several pave makers before approaching dozens of people gathered around a family member's grave, witnesses told police.
Everyone in the group made a run for it, but a 10-year-old girl was unable to move in time and was struck by the car, police told the newspaper. Her relatives pursued Sowell in their own vehicles and were able to detain the alleged carjacker until police arrived.
Curti and the girl suffered minor injuries.
Sowell, of Hartford, was arrested and faces a slew of charges, including carjacking, second-degree robbery, second-degree larceny and first-degree reckless endangerment. He was held on $500,000 bail.
On Monday a judge ordered Sowell placed under a mental health watch. His mother, Lashawne Houston, said her son has bipolar disorder and "had been acting strange for about a week," the Hartford Courant reported.
Houstson said she thinks her son may have snapped due to issues at his job.
