A truly terrible carjacker shouldn’t quit his day job after failing to get far, when he stole one of Rivian’s electric Amazon vans from a driver.
How one of the new Rivian electric Amazon vans was carjacked
The incident, which was caught on the Amazon van’s dashcam, happened on the night of November 16th during the season’s Christmas present delivery rush.
An Amazon delivery driver was in the process of dropping off a package at an apartment complex in Houston, Texas.
When he returned to the blue van, the carjacker, who is described as a 6’2 black male aged between 18-23, approached the driver and threatened him at gunpoint.
The masked thief demanded the keys to the Amazon van, which was a Rivian electric vehicle valued at $83,000.
After the fearful delivery driver handed over the keys, the carjacker quickly fled the scene in the expensive electric delivery truck.
Rivian electric Amazon vans prove too tough for thieves to drive
However, just moments after the theft, a bizarre and unexpected turn of events occurred. The carjacker, lost control of the vehicle while he was attempting to make his escape.
The off-road ride was so bumpy it caused him to hilariously tumble out of the driver’s seat and crash the Amazon van into nearby bushes.
The dashcam footage captured the chaotic scene as the bewildered criminal is pinned between the driver and passenger seats, and the van’s cargo door swung open upon impact.
As it turns out, the terrible driver only managed to make it a half a mile away from where he held the delivery driver at gunpoint.
Though, one thing the suspect turned out to be good at was running away from the scene of the crime. After exiting the crashed vehicle he fled on foot and managed to evade capture by law enforcement.
His time on the lamb is likely to be short lived. The Houston Police Department’s Robbery Division has released the dashcam video of the incident in an effort to apprehend the suspect.
The video shows the thief scoping out the delivery van as he paces back and forth in front of it several times.
Luckily for the detectives on the case, the man’s bare face is clearly visible in moments before he put a mask on and threatened the driver.
Rivian electric Amazon vans attract carjackers
Despite having GPS trackers and full video surveillance, Amazon vans have become a hot commodity for carjackers.
In a copycat scenario, an Amazon truck was stolen broad daylight last week in Chicago, when a the 21-year-old driver pulled over in a parking lot.
An armed thief shoved a gun in the driver’s face and demanded access to the vehicle, which the suspect took off with.
While the carjacker has still not been found, the Amazon truck was quickly located, and thankfully nobody was injured during the crime.
Another one of Amazon’s vans was stolen in Montgomery County, Ohio while the driver was making a delivery.
An eyewitness to the crime told 911 dispatchers that multiple thieves were involved when his wife saw the vehicle being taken by suspects driving a white Ford van from the safety of the couple’s porch.
The incident occurred right after 1 p.m. on December 31, and the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office has yet to locate the suspects or the vehicle.
