SAN DIEGO (CNS) - A parolee and a teenage cohort who allegedly used social media to lure the owner of a luxury car to a City Heights parking lot late at night so they could steal it were behind bars today. The 21-year-old victim had contacted one of the suspects, a 17-year-old girl, online and arranged to meet in the 3400 block of 43rd Street in the Swan Canyon area about 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, according to San Diego police.
After the victim met up with the teenager in the neighborhood just east of state Route 15, they got into his 2016 Mercedes-Benz C300 and drove about a half-mile to the 4200 block of Myrtle Avenue and parked at Florence Joyner Elementary School, Officer Robert Heims said.
The girl then invited the man to accompany her to her apartment. He agreed and, since the teen had a cast on her foot, went around to the passenger side of the car to help her, Heims said. At that point, a man wearing a red face mask walked up, pointed a large knife at the victim and demanded his car keys, the officer said. The victim complied, and the thieves got into the sedan and drove off.
Sheriff's deputies alerted to the crime soon spotted the stolen Mercedes in nearby Spring Valley, where they stopped it and arrested Christopher Orion Myers, 21, and his teenage companion, SDPD Lt. Martha Sainz said. The girl's name was withheld because she is a minor. In addition to carjacking, Myers was booked on suspicion of violating parole, according to jail records.