NEW ORLEANS — Police are trying to identify a man who carjacked a woman at gunpoint in her eastern New Orleans driveway Monday night as the woman’s two young children were seated in the back of the car.
A grainy security video of the robbery shows one of the children – a 6-year-old girl – getting out of the car on her own. But the mother was forced to scramble to the back seat to unstrap and rescue her 3-year-old son as the carjacker drove away.
The carjacking unfolded in the 6900 block of Coventry Street shortly after 8 p.m. Police recovered the Nissan Altima that was stolen in the robbery Tuesday afternoon about three-and-a-half miles away, at the intersection of Curran Boulevard and Unity Drive.
Pearl Cantrelle, president of the Kenilworth Neighborhood Association, said the carjacking has put the entire neighborhood on edge.
“They don't care if you see them,” Cantrelle said. “They don't care if you have children in the car. They don't care if you're elderly. They just don't care.”
The neighborhood is generally peaceful, Cantrelle said, dominated by owner-occupied single-family homes, most of them with security systems. In fact, the carjacking was captured on a security camera mounted on a home across the street.
“It is very scary to think that this is going to happen with young children around,” said Michele Sanders, vice-president of the neighborhood association.
Police had not identified any suspects Tuesday, but the neighborhood association wasted no time springing into action. Cantrelle and Sanders were going door-to-door Tuesday afternoon to alert neighbors.
“Today we're going to canvas and ask that everybody turn on their lights, have their outdoor floodlights on to maybe just show a force and a presence that we're not going to tolerate this out here.” Sanders said.
Police are processing the stolen car for evidence and also trying to determine if two other men seen in the video were accomplices.
Citizens with information that can help solve crimes are asked to call Crimestoppers at 504-822-1111.