Minneapolis carjacking victim speaks out, urges state lawmakers to act

The husband of a woman who was carjacked in south Minneapolis the last week of May is speaking out and urging state lawmakers to create stiffer penalties for carjacking.

The man told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS he and his entire family are terrorized by the incident because the suspects pulled a gun on his 6-year-old daughter and 6-year-old niece.

The husband said his wife tried stopping the carjackers because there were children involved.

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“To have this happen on a Sunday at 11 a.m. with children in the car is obscene. It’s unreal,” the husband said. “And, these people are vicious. They don’t have any regard for human life.”

KSTP agreed to protect the husband’s identity because he fears retaliation against his family, but he said he wanted to raise awareness of the issue and urged people to get involved and let state lawmakers know that they want a crime bill passed at the legislature to increase penalties for carjacking convictions.

“Right now, there is no separate sentence for carjackings as a standalone crime,” the husband said. “So, what this bill is attempting to do is make carjacking a specific crime with a minimum sentence, so that’s a deterrent — step one.”

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Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher said the crime bill that’s in the state Senate would carry a mandatory minimum sentence for a carjacking of two to six years in prison and it also adds resources to battle the problem.

“On the Senate side, there’s a bill there that have a $3 million anti-carjacking team that works the seven-county area,” Fletcher said. “And, that would have a direct impact. The money would be available now and have a direct impact on the problems that we’re seeing.”