'I looked him dead in the eyes': 14-year-old arrested after stealing woman's car at library

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A 14-year-old boy stole a car left that was left running outside of a Charlotte library Friday afternoon and then led police on a short chase, police said.

Police said the teenager jumped into the car in the parking lot of the Charlotte Regional Library on Conference Drive around 11:20 a.m.

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Police attempted to initiate a traffic stop, but said the driver refused to pull over.

The SUV was found at a nearby apartment complex, where, after a short foot chase, the teen was arrested.

Laura James, the car’s owner, told Channel 9 in an exclusive interview that she was inside the library printing out paperwork.

She said she was only in the library for “seven or eight minutes.”

“I did leave the car running, but I locked all the doors,” James said.

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James said the boy unpeeled the tape that sealed the damaged back window of her car and got into the driver’s seat.

She said her back window was smashed out a while ago and she had to cover it with tape.

“Not thinking of this window here, he just ripped at all the pieces and came right on in,” James said.

James said she tried to chase the car down, and in passing, she got a good look at the suspected car thief.

“I looked him dead in the eyes. He drove away in my car,” James said. “I was like, ‘No, baby, don’t do it.’”

The teenager was charged with larceny of a motor vehicle and then released to family members.

James said the teen got away with a few dollars and her entire pocketbook.

“I do feel bad for the kid, I do, but this has got to stop,” James said. “I just thank God I got my car back.”

James said she did lose some sentimental valuables in her pocketbook.

“I lost my mom two years ago and it was a simple ID of her picture and her presence on that little card, and that was all I was searching for today,” James said. “They all were inside a black leather bag.”

Also in the bag was a letter her mother left her before she died.

“She just wrote to me like, ‘Dear child, I love you. You’ve been the best daughter you could have been. There’s nothing else you could have done,’” James said. “The letter that she wrote to me, that I walked around with, that was really sentimental to me.”

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