WHEATON, MD – Police made an arrest in a weekend carjacking that took place in front of an Asian market in downtown Wheaton.
According to detectives from the Montgomery County Department of Police, 27-year-old Manuel A. Hernandez Hernandez, of Laurel, was arrested for the carjacking that occurred on Sunday at around 8:48 p.m.
“The investigation by detectives determined that the suspect approached a black 2019 Hyundai Elantra in the parking lot of the Hung Phat Grocery Store. The suspect opened the door and ordered the victim, who was in the passenger seat, out of the vehicle,” the MCPD said in a statement. “When the victim refused, the suspect got into the driver’s seat and began to drive away. The victim then jumped out of the moving vehicle.”
According to police, the victim sustained minor injuries.
“Officers placed a lookout for the vehicle. On the same date, at approximately 10:30 p.m., officers from the Laurel City Police Department responded to a vehicle collision in the 14700 block of Fourth Street in Laurel,” the agency said. “Officers determined that the vehicle in the collision was stolen in the above referenced carjacking. Officers identified the driver as Hernandez Hernandez, and connected him to the earlier carjacking. Hernandez Hernandez was arrested without incident.”
Hernandez Hernandez is currently being held at the Montgomery County Central Processing Unit (CPU) where he has been charged with carjacking and kidnapping. His bond review is scheduled for Tuesday, May 17, 2022, at 1 p.m.