9-year-old Sarasota girl to carjacker: 'Get out!'
SARASOTA (FOX 13) - A Saturday trip to Lowes turned out to be anything but typical. One moment, Edward France was loading mulch into his trunk; the next, he was on the phone with 911: Someone had stolen his car.
In the back seat of the Chrysler sat his most precious cargo, his 9-year-old daughter.
"They started yelling at this stranger, ‘Stop, get out! This is my dad's car!’ The stranger starts yelling at her and says, ‘No, you get out!’" said Capt. John Walsh with the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office.
Walsh said the girl was face to face with Thomas White, a convicted felon. But the girl didn't just sit back. She fought back.
"She says, ‘No, you get out!’ They begin arguing back and forth about who should get out," Walsh continued.
Before White left the parking lot of the Fruitville Lowe's, that 9-year-old made a quick decision.
"Smartly, before the car actually leaves the Lowe's parking lot, she's able to open the rear passenger door and jumps out of the moving car," Walsh said.
Minutes later, deputies found White. They tried to pull him over, but they said he took off. When his car tires were flattened by stop sticks, he ran. He tried hiding at a nearby restaurant, but deputies were able to nab him.
They discovered this was the second time in a week he had stolen a car.
"We were able to find the car in the Lowe's parking lot. He actually dropped off this stolen car in the parking lot," Walsh said.
White remains in the Sarasota County jail. He was charged with two counts of resisting an officer, burglary, vehicle theft, kidnapping, and carjacking. He is being held without bond.
As for the 9-year-old, she walked away unharmed and her bravery continues to stand out.
"The girl is extremely lucky, but again, I think she was really brave. She seemed to stay in control. Knew where she was. She was trying to not let go of her dad's car,” Walsh added.