A man in New Orleans recently stopped a person from stealing his red Lexus RX but how he did it is the real shocker. In a moment of desperation, the owner jumped onto his own hood and attacked the thief through the sunroof. Not only did he keep his car but he got a free jacket in the process.
First reported by WDSU News, the entire incident went down as a security camera was recording. In it, we see the owner of the car walking toward a house with what turned out to be a present for a friend on Christmas eve. As he stands at the door, a silver SUV rolls up next to the Lexus and one man jumps out of the back.
Moments later, that same person opened the door of the Lexus and hopped in to find that the owner had left it running. While that was happening, the owner noticed the commotion and started to make his way back to his car just in the nick of time. Of course, to keep the thief from driving away, the owner had to stand in front of his own vehicle as the thief drove into him twice.
More: Car Thief Somehow Gets Stuck On Stairs At A Spanish Bus Station
Both times, the owner managed to stay on his feet before chucking a container of gumbo (the aforementioned gift) at the windshield. In the next moment, he jumped up on the hood, climbed over the windshield, and reached down into the cabin to grab the criminal’s jacket.
In fact, by jumping up into that position it seems as though he blocked the view of the criminal and distracted him enough that the perp decided to give up. The criminal then hopped back into the silver SUV and it speeds away. According to WDSU, the Lexus owner filed a police report after the incident.
He also said that “In hindsight, there were better decisions I could have made, but I am fed up with crime in our city. We expect our police and municipal leaders to do what is necessary to protect its citizens.” That sentiment isn’t shocking considering that some 4,011 vehicles were stolen last year, a 35 percent increase from 2021.
There are all sorts of little lessons to be learned here beyond “don’t steal cars”. On the other side of the coin, leaving your keys in your car is simply a bad idea. Every year we seem to report on a number of situations where cars are stolen easily because the keys are in the car. On top of that, leaving your keys in your car and particularly in the ignition while it’s running is almost asking for trouble.
Is it possible that these criminals would’ve attempted to steal the Lexus if it wasn’t running? Sure, but the chances are lower and the time that the owner might have saved by not turning the car off is so negligible that I’m not going to waste your time or mine by figuring it out. I do hope he wears that jacket like he won it in a war though.