St. Pete Test Drive Leads To Attempted Carjacking, Crash

PINELLAS PARK, FL – Two men are under arrest after reportedly carjacking a Cadillac during a test drive at a car dealership and then crashing it.

According to the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office, 52-year-old car salesman Christian Jensen of Largo was working at Crown Mitsubishi at 5400 34th St. N., St. Petersburg, on Thursday, May 24 at 2:25 p.m. when he agreed to take a customer for a test drive in a 2012 Cadillac CTS.

During the test drive, the customer reportedly pulled out a gun, pointed it at Jensen and ordered him out of the car near the intersection of 54th Avenue North and 37 Street North. Jensen did as instructed and the man drove west on 54th Avenue North in the Cadillac.

Jensen called the sheriff’s office and deputies were searching for the stolen car when residents reported a Cadillac driving recklessly on Gulf Boulevard in Madeira Beach.

The Cadillac passed a deputy on Gulf Boulevard but when the deputy made a U-turn to pursue it, he lost sight of the car.

Minutes later, deputies were notified that a Cadillac had crashed into a palm tree near 14048 Gulf Blvd., Madeira Beach.

Witnesses told them that two men had gotten out of the Cadillac and fled the scene.

Deputies apprehended 30-year-old Robert Gajate, no known address, who was found near the scene of the crash and Jensen identified him as the man who stole the car.

Later, Treasure Island police officers located the second man, 25-year-old George Olson of 6680 50th St. N., Pinellas Park, who was in possession of crack cocaine and a handgun identified as the gun used in the carjacking. It had been stolen in Pinellas County in 2003.

When deputies interviewed Gajate, he admitted to stealing the Cadillac and picking Olson up afterward.

Gajate, who was released from prison April 9 on a grand theft auto conviction, was charged with one count of armed carjacking, one count of grand theft auto, one count of possession of a firearm by a felon, one count of reckless driving with property damage, one count of leaving the scene of a crash with property damage and one count of driving on a suspended or revoked license.

Olson was charged with one count of possession of a firearm by a felon and one count of possession of a controlled substance.

Image via Pinellas Sheriff