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St. Pete Police: Carjacker Caught After Pursuit

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Published: July 28, 2008

Updated: 07/28/2008 02:31 pm

ST. PETERSBURG - A man carjacked a woman's Lexus at gunpoint just after midnight Sunday, forcing her to drive the vehicle, and she later bailed out of the car while it was still moving, St. Petersburg police said.

Within hours, patrol officers spotted the suspected kidnapper in the Lexus and, after a short pursuit, took him into custody, St. Petersburg police spokesman George Kajtsa said.

Charges against McCordia L. Isom Jr., 24, include armed carjacking and fleeing and eluding, according to Pinellas County Jail records.

Diane Maria Richard, 50, had just returned from a laundromat to her room at a motel at 401 34th St. N. and was getting out of the 1992 Lexus when Isom approached her with a gun, got into the passenger side of the Lexus and ordered Richard to drive, Kajtsa said.

Less than four blocks later, Richard bailed out of the Lexus while the car was still moving, suffering minor injuries, Kajtsa said.

At the police station later that morning, patrol officers were told to be on the lookout for the Lexus and the man driving it. By then, Isom had also robbed one CVS store by leading a clerk to believe he was armed, and he had tried robbing a second CVS by threatening another clerk, but that one refused to open the cash register and Isom took off, jail records said.

At about 8 a.m. Sunday, an officer spotted the Lexus at 30th Avenue and 16th Street North, Kajtsa said. A sergeant authorized a pursuit as the suspect had been involved in a violent felony, and Isom took off, but the car got stuck on a grass embankment at 38th Avenue and 28th Street North, jail records said. Isom bailed out of the car and started running, Kajtsa said.

A police officer got out of her squad car and ran after him, Kajtsa said. She tried using her electric stun gun, but one of the barbs missed, so she unholstered her department-issue firearm and ordered Isom to the ground, Kajtsa said. Isom complied. Jail records said he could not be interviewed because he was high on drugs.

In addition to the carjacking and fleeing and eluding charges, Isom was charged with attempted strong-armed robbery and armed robbery, jail records said. Bail was set at $60,000.

Reporter Stephen Thompson can be reached at (727) 451-2336 or spthompson@tampatrib.com.

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