LAKE ALFRED, Fla. — A man was arrested after trying to steal several drivers' cars early Friday morning on Interstate 4, according to the Polk County Sheriff's Office.
It happened around 7:45 a.m. when the sheriff's office got a call about a crash at State Road 557, a news release states. A man was said to have gotten out of his car and tried to steal other people's cars.
That man, later identified as 34-year-old Christopher Hendrix, reportedly first ran up to a Chevy truck parked at a nearby gas station. Deputies say a woman sprayed him with gasoline when she saw him try to get into her truck.
After that accused carjacking failed, he then got into a parked van but its owner, a concealed weapons permit holder, pointed his gun at Hendrix and told him to get out, the sheriff's office said.
Deputies say Hendrix ran onto I-4, causing a semi-truck to rear-end a box truck that slammed on its brakes to avoid hitting him. A driver of another Chevy truck pulled over to help, and that's when deputies say Hendrix tried to get into the back seat. When that didn't work because the doors were locked, he got into a woman's Chevy SUV whose driver stopped to help.
Eventually, deputies were able to arrest Hendrix and put him into their own cruiser. They say he kicked out its rear window and tried to escape.
"This violent, convicted felon was bound and determined to forcibly steal a car this morning, but our citizens said, 'Not today.' While I'm grateful nobody was seriously injured, I'm also very proud of these four victims for keeping their wits about them and refusing to allow this man to take what's theirs," Sheriff Grady Judd said in the release.
Hendrix is charged with a count of carjacking, grand theft auto, felony criminal mischief and escape. He also faces two counts of occupied burglary.
He was sentenced to 10 years in state prison in 2009 for aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and was released in January 2017.
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