Man’s Car Was Left Behind in Carjacking Because Gunman Thief Couldn’t Drive Stick

What kind of criminal carries a firearm but can’t drive stick?

A man in St. Louis, MO was carjacked at gunpoint last Thursday night but his car was not stolen, left behind because the thief could not operate a manual transmission.

“A car came up right behind,”said Dustin French, the victim, to KMOV. “A passenger got out with a firearm, told me to get out of my car and empty my pockets.”

In Benton Park, located in southern St. Louis, at around 11 p.m. French pulled up to a curb in front of his home when a silver Honda Accord came up behind him containing the criminals – a driver and a passenger with a gun who police say was in his late teens or early 20’s. Apparently French was followed from a mile and a half away when he left a gas station nearby.

“All I got out luckily were my keys and I said ‘What do I do now?'” said French. “I was asking [the gunman] for orders. He said get up and walk away. Face away and keep walking.”

It is unclear what exactly happened next, just that French sometime after the robbery noticed his car was still there and believes it was not taken because the carjacker did not know how to drive stick.

After the (failed) robbery, French took to social networking to warn others to be careful when alone late at night as well as follow his actions of not panicking or fighting the gun-wielding crook and basically following demands in order to remain safe.

He also brought attention to a street light near his place that was burned out which caused the dark area where he was unable to realize he was being followed. That street light has been now fixed since he reported it to authorities.

It would appear some good came out of this humorous story, and kudos to cool guy French for driving a stick shift.