A Little Rock woman was carjacked by a group that included a man armed with an apparent handgun Wednesday afternoon as she sat in her car in a lot near a popular west Little Rock restaurant, authorities said.
Investigators later used the woman's stolen cell phone to track the vehicle, touching off a high speed chase that was ultimately called off before the carjackers were apprehended.
The 24-year-old victim told police she was sitting in her Toyota Scion in a parking lot near Chuy's, 16001 Chenal Parkway, around 4 p.m. when a vehicle drove up and two men got out, according to a Little Rock Police Department report.
One of the men ordered the victim from her vehicle while raising his shirt to reveal a red-and-green firearm, the report said. The victim told investigators the weapon may have been a toy, but it was unclear.
After the one carjacker pointed the gun at the victim and pulled her from the vehicle, both assailants got in the Scion and drove off while the vehicle they arrived in — a black Lexus SUV occupied by a third man and a woman — followed behind them.
Police a short time later were able to pinpoint the location of the stolen vehicle using a tracking device installed on the victim's iPhone, which had been left in the Scion, the report said.
A patrol unit got behind the stolen vehicle on Interstate 430 near Interstate 630, but the driver refused to pull over, according to the report. An ensuing pursuit reached speeds greater than 100 mph south on I-430 and onto Interstate 30, though authorities later ended the chase and opted instead to continue tracking the vehicle's location using the phone.
The phone was later found on the ground at 25th and Valmar streets and the Scion was located abandoned behind a warehouse at 4504 W. 16th St. No one was in it and no arrests had been made at the time of the report.
The two carjackers are described as black men. One was wearing a black jacket, red shirt and khaki pants and had brown eyes and a short black afro. No specific description was listed for the second man.
