PLAINS TWP. — A Good Samaritan detained a man from Moosic as he jumped into a woman’s vehicle he attempted to steal at Turkey Hill on South Main Street on Tuesday.
Kenneth William McDonald, 32, of Springbrook Avenue, was loitering near a trash can in front of the store when he jumped into a vehicle parked at the gasoline pump island just before 6 p.m., according to court records.
The vehicle’s owner, a female, had left the driver’s side door open as she walked toward the fuel pump when McDonald jumped in the driver’s seat and pushed the start button of the vehicle, court records say.
After the woman screamed, court records say, a man sitting in another vehicle parked at an adjacent fuel pump assisted by preventing McDonald from starting the vehicle and held McDonald in the seat until police arrived.
The rear-view mirror inside the woman’s vehicle was damaged.
McDonald told police he used a “lot of methamphetamine” and wanted to take the vehicle for a drive, court records say.
Police in court records say McDonald had stolen a hat from the store before the attempted carjacking.
McDonald was arraigned by District Judge Kyle Halesey of Hanover Township on charges of robbery of a motor vehicle, theft, criminal mischief, disorderly conduct, retail theft, and public drunkenness. He was jailed at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility for lack of $20,000 bail.