Man fends off would-be carjacker at Wesley Chapel shopping center

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By Liz Foster

WESLEY CHAPEL, N.C. — A Union County man took matters into his own hands when he saw a carjacker try to get away with his truck.

The victim told Channel 9 he regrets leaving his truck running while inside a Wesley Chapel pharmacy, but doesn’t regret fighting off the man who tried to steal it.

“I just ran out the door and yelled, ‘Call the cops,’” Michael Harkey said as he walked Eyewitness News anchor Liz Foster through the moments Tuesday afternoon.

That was the day he saw a man jump in his truck in a Walgreens parking lot and by the time he got to his truck, he said the suspect was already reversing, so he jumped in.

“He’s driving and I’m grabbing a hold of his head, just fighting with him and trying to stay in the vehicle, yelling at him, ‘This is my truck, I’m not going anywhere.’ He’s trying to push me out as he’s driving crazily,” Harkey said.

Harkey said the suspect drove erratically, first in reverse, then in drive, up to 30 mph in the parking lot.

“I was afraid we were getting out on the road, and we were going to be going fast and the doors open, I’m halfway out the door,” Harkey said.

Thankfully, no one was hurt. Harkey’s truck hit at least two other cars during the struggle, including one that belongs to Debra Foster, who told Channel 9 she witnessed everything.

“It was really scary right then,” Foster said. “I wish I would’ve tripped the guy.”

(Click Play to hear the victim recount the attempted carjacking)

Deputies arrested Brandon Smith less than 24 hours later and charged him with felony larceny of a motor vehicle.

“Hopefully he’ll do some time,” Harkey said. “He doesn’t need to be on the streets. If he’s brazen enough to steal a vehicle, what else would he do?”

(Brandon Smith)

Deputies said they knew the suspect’s name because while they were looking for him, they spotted a car on the side of a nearby road with two people inside. The people inside that car told deputies their friend, Smith, had gone to get help for their broken down car.

Those two people were arrested at the scene, one for an outstanding warrant and the other after deputies said they found drugs in the car.

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