Witnesses apprehend suspect while waiting for police
A Santa Cruz woman is in Santa Clara County Jail after an aborted attempt to carjack another woman’s car Tuesday morning at the AM/PM gas station in north Morgan Hill.
She was charged with carjacking and trespassing.
Cecilia McDonald, 41, had been asked earlier to leave the station, where she was sitting with a suitcase and smoking at approximately 3am.
“She was asked to leave and warned by officers that she could be arrested for trespassing if she remained at the station,” said Morgan Hill Police Cmdr. Joe Sampson. “She walked away with her suitcase, but apparently didn’t go very far.”
As Lyndel Thompson, 38, was putting gas into her Volvo SUV, with her 2-year-old son in a car seat in the back seat of the vehicle, she noticed McDonald holding the gas nozzle that was fueling the Volvo. When asked by Thompson what she was doing, McDonald replied, according to the police report, said, “I’m pumping my gas!”
The situation then escalated, as McDonald allegedly reached into her coat as though reaching for a weapon, and yelled, “Don’t move!”
Fearing that McDonald was indeed drawing a weapon, Thompson hurriedly attempted to get her son out of the vehicle, as McDonald climbed into the Volvo’s driver’s seat and started the engine.
As Thompson yelled for help, many customers at the station rushed to her aid, including a group of construction workers on their way to work. One of the customers was able to remove Thompson’s keys from the ignition; two others were able to pull McDonald from behind the steering wheel of the Volvo after a struggle.
Once out of the vehicle, according to Sampson, McDonald was surrounded by a group of eight to 10 AM/PM customers, who remained around her to prevent her escape until officers arrived.
McDonald was taken into custody after a brief resistance.
No weapons were found on her or in her suitcase. During interviews at the police station, she refused to make any statement.
No injuries were reported.
Sampson said though the incident had a peaceful ending, it could have been tragic.
“It was a great result, and we are happy, certainly, that people were there,” he said Wednesday. “If she had been successful, with the child in the car, we could have had a chase situation, with the chance that she could crash, with the child in the car, ending it all tragically.”
While Sampson, and likely Thompson, are grateful for the help of the bystanders, Sampson expressed concern about the potential danger for the good Samaritans who came to Thompson’s aid.
“They were really very helpful,” he said. “But it’s interesting, when we talked about it later, we are always grateful for community help, but, boy, what if she really did have a weapon under the jacket? One or even more of those innocent bystanders coming to help could have been shot. It’s a catch-22.”
