A Florida man attempted to burglarize a home and later carjack a 74-year-old woman who was sitting in traffic Tuesday morning. However, a good Samaritan stopped the suspect by tying him up with a belt, according to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office.
The suspect, identified as 51-year-old Eliud Rosario-Otero, said he didn’t remember the incident, claiming he had used cocaine, Xanax pills, and alcohol the night prior, MCSO said in a news release.
Deputies said they first received reports around 6 a.m. of a suspicious person at the intersection of SW Highway 200 and SW 60th Avenue in Ocala.
Upon arrival, deputies learned that Rosario-Otero had tried to break into a nearby home, but ran off toward traffic after being confronted by the homeowner.
“He was trying to get in my house, that’s why I called,” the homeowner could be heard saying on a deputy’s bodycam video. “I chased him off with a broom and then he ran to my neighbor’s house,” he said.
While at the intersection, Rosario-Otero tried to carjack multiple vehicles, and ultimately was able to get inside the 74-year-old woman’s SUV through her passenger side door.
He grabbed the steering wheel and tried to push the elderly woman out of the SUV, according to an arrest report. Rosario-Otero reached his foot over to press the gas pedal, but investigators said the woman was able to keep her foot on the brake pedal.
A witness who saw Rosario-Otero attempting to drag the woman out of the SUV, walked over and pulled him out of the SUV and restrained him with a belt until responding officers arrived. The good Samaritan told deputies that Rosario-Otero also tried to enter his car prior to him entering the woman’s SUV, authorities said.
He was arrested and booked into the Marion County Jail on multiple charges including attempted carjacking, attempted occupied burglary and burglary with a battery, an arrest report stated.
