JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — First Coast News obtained exclusive dashcam video and details from witnesses about what happened during a dangerous carjacking in Arlington Wednesday.
Witness Richard Gibson said it all started on Cesery Boulevard while at a red light at Arlington Expressway.
“It was just bizarre, like a Hollywood movie set," Gibson described.
He said he saw the suspect, barefoot and running erratically through traffic, try and hitch a ride on a JTA bus before approaching his car.
“He grabbed my door handle, which I'm ashamed to say was not locked. The door opened up and I was face to face with this man," Gibson explained. "Now, he never looked angry or threatening. He looked scared, and that's when he told me that these men are trying to kill them and he wanted me to help him.“
He said the man jumped in the bed of his truck, got out and then ran to another car.
The driver – a woman – said she was initially concerned and thought witnesses in the roadway were coming after him.
She was planning to stop at work and pull over to get him help when, she said, he grabbed her steering wheel.
When she couldn’t fight him off, she made a quick decision to grab her purse and jump out on the University Boulevard overpass.
Another witness, Travis, who asked us not to use his last name, had been following the suspect from the beginning while on the phone with dispatch.
He caught the suspect’s wild 3-mile ride on dashcam video.
“As he was going, he was swerving a little bit. And we was coming up on a Atlantic Boulevard off of University," Travis explained. "And that's when he hit the curve. And he made a right turn, and that's when he hit one car. And he was going on the wrong side of the road, and then he hit another car and he turned into the Publix parking lot."
That’s when police say the suspect, later identified as Andrew McClendon, went into the store on Atlantic Boulevard and robbed someone.
McClendon was arrested by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office there and is being charged with carjacking along with multiple traffic violations including leaving the scene of the crash, making an improper turn, driving without a license and leaving the scene of a crash, according to an arrest report.
“I know she was scared, so I did the best I could to try to help," Travis said. "Even though I was just test driving my car, I ran into all that. I know everything happened for a reason.“
The victim is in good spirits and said she is okay. Although, her car is a different story, and is likely going to be totaled.