Man accused of carjacking 77-year-old writes her a 4-page apology letter in Florida
A man in Florida is accused of carjacking a 77-year-old woman in her driveway, then feeling remorseful and writing her an apology letter, a sheriff’s office said.
The woman was at her Leesburg home Feb. 6 with the man, 27, when he asked her to unlock her car so he could grab something from her trunk, according to an arrest affidavit from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
The relationship between the man and the woman was not released by the sheriff’s office.
The woman walked into her driveway to make sure her red Toyota Corolla had unlocked, deputies said, when the man “forcefully grabbed the key from her hand, cutting her left hand.”
The man then grabbed the woman’s arm and pushed her to the ground before jumping into the driver’s seat of the car and driving away, according to the affidavit.
The woman reported the vehicle as stolen, and deputies tracked it down the next day, the sheriff’s office said.
The man was charged with unarmed carjacking, battery of a person 65 years or older and theft from a person 65 years or older, and taken into custody, arrest documents show.
While being interviewed, the man denied involvement in the carjacking but told deputies he “felt remorseful for what happened.”
While in custody, the man wrote a four-page apology letter to the woman, deputies said, expressing his remorse.
In the letter, obtained by WOFL, the man addresses the woman as “grandma,” and he apologizes for “not being the young man (she) raised.”
“I would never hurt you on purpose or accident. I love you with all my heart, it’s time to close this chapter in my life, I’m crying now writing this,” he wrote in the letter. “When I come home … I promise I will be the great example of a loving father and loving grandson.”
The man told the woman he was sending her his car key and asked if she could lock his car, according to the letter.
Leesburg is about 45 miles northwest of Orlando.
