A South Florida woman says she was carjacked over the weekend and the suspected carjacker led police on a chase that ended in a crash Sunday in Miami Beach. NBC6’s Niko Clemmons reports
A South Florida woman says she was carjacked over the weekend and the suspected carjacker led police on a chase that ended in a crash Sunday in Miami Beach.
Glenda Defas was parking her SUV in Miami Saturday when a man asked her for money. When she told the man she didn’t have any money, he approached her with a hammer and threatened her, she said.
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“I was shaking because the guy was threatening me with a hammer,” Defas said. “(I said) 'You're going to destroy yourself for this and you'll destroy my life?'"
Defas walked away, but moments later, the man got inside her SUV and took off. Her brother, who is disabled and deaf, was inside the vehicle but got out when the man hopped in.
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“My brother came running and said, Glenda, the guy took the car,” Defas said.
Defas said several of her personal belongings were inside the SUV, including her credit card, which she said the suspect later used. She said the suspect also sold several of her belongings. Defas had to borrow a phone so she could call 911.
“It took seven years to pay this car and finally I had no more payments and this happened,” Defas said. “I feel hopeless, I feel destroyed.”
Defas went searching for her vehicle. According to an arrest report, the next day, a license plate reader picked up the stolen SUV in the city of Miami. The man inside the SUV was identified as Savalas Cigar. Police said when they tried to pull Cigar over, he sped off.
A Florida Highway Patrol trooper was able to use a PIT maneuver, causing the SUV to flip on the westbound ramp from Alton Road to I-195 just right outside Mount Sinai Medical Center. Police quickly arrested Cigar.
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Defas said she hadn't slept much in days.
“I'm trying to do my best, and I think I don't deserve this,” Defas said. “This is not right, this is not right.”
Defas went to Alton Road Tuesday to see where her SUV flipped. She also found one of her credit cards.
She said she wants justice.
“He destroyed seven years of my life here like this,” Defas said.
Cigar is charged with grand theft and fleeing and aggravated eluding a police officer.
A GoFundMe was created for Defas.
