A crazed carjacker in California dragged an Army vet and beloved grandfather a half-mile to his death after speeding off in the 79-year-old’s car, police said.
James “Jim” Norman was vacuuming out the back of his Chevrolet Trailblazer at an ARCO gas station in Norco at around 12:30 p.m. Monday when Ryan Hewitt, 29, jumped into the front seat, according to cops.
Hewitt sped away with Norman desperately hanging onto the car’s backseat, police said.
Witnesses who saw the carjacking taking place called police.
“The caller reported witnessing a male entering the driver seat of a vehicle and driving away with the vehicle owner partially inside the rear seat,” police officials said.
Norman was eventually thrown from the car, according to cops.
Investigators found his crumpled body a half-mile from the gas station and just a few miles from his home. Paramedics rushed the septuagenarian to a nearby hospital but his injuries were too severe. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.
“I just hope he went quickly and I’m grateful for the people — and I hope to meet them — that surrounded him and protected his body so he wasn’t just out in the middle of the road,” Norman’s daughter, Nicole Lauritsen, told 7 ABC Eyewitness News.
Lauritsen also told the station that her father had plans to meet for a meal. She said she thinks the killer knew her father was clinging on for his life, but panicked and kept driving.
“He was too old and frail to get out before the door slammed on him,” she said. “He knew my dad was hanging, but just panicked and kept going until he fell out of the car.”
Her father wore hearing aids, but wasn’t wearing them at the time, so he probably didn’t even notice when the carjacker jumped into the driver’s seat, Lauritsen told KCAL News.
“He didn’t have his hearing aids in, so I’m guessing he didn’t hear with the vacuum on and all of a sudden his car’s backing up,” she said.
Investigators called Lauritsen and asked her if she had any way to track her father’s phone. She said that she could track his car, since she had placed an AirTag on it to help keep track of him, according to KCAL.
Cops found Norman’s car parked and unoccupied.
Shortly after, they found and arrested Hewitt. He was charged with carjacking and murder, police said.
Norman lived a modest life, but an adventurous one, according to a GoFundMe page set up to help pay for his funeral and burial costs.
He served in the Army and worked multiple jobs in his life, including construction, vehicle transport and “even took to the skies as a pilot.”
“His passion for travel for work and exploration led him to many corners of the United States,” according to the GoFundMe page. “Whether building something with his hands or sharing tales from the road, Jim brought energy and authenticity to everything he did.”
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