Man tries to save car from being stolen in wild carjacking incident in Lodi, NJ

🚗 Two teens face charges in carjacking incident

🚗 One of the teens involved is a juvenile

🚗 The owner of the car tried to stop it from being stolen, according to police

LODI — Two Bergen County teenagers have been charged with first-degree carjacking stemming from an incident in March.

According to Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella, Lodi police responded to a report of a stolen vehicle from a commercial business on Route 46 West on March 12 at about 10 p.m.

Musella said responding officers were told that witnesses alerted the owner of the vehicle that it was being stolen, prompting him to run out of the business and toward the car, jumping on the hood while the vehicle was stopped at a red light.

When the light turned green, the driver of the stolen vehicle continued driving with the victim on the hood, according to what witnesses told police. The victim fell off the car a short time later, and the car fled the scene.

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Investigation leads to two arrests

After a three-month investigation, detectives from the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office and the Lodi Police Department, identified Davon White, 18, of Paterson, and a 17-year-old juvenile from Passaic County, as the two suspects responsible for the carjacking.

The stolen vehicle was recovered, thanks to assistance from the Paterson Police Department.

The 17-year-old was taken into protective custody on June 6 and charged with juvenile delinquency, specifically first-degree carjacking, second-degree robbery, and third-degree theft by unlawful taking of a vehicle. The teen is currently being held in a juvenile detention center, pending future court proceedings.

Later that same day, White, who was already incarcerated at the Bergen County Jail on an unrelated matter, was served with criminal charges related to the carjacking.

White is charged with first-degree carjacking, first-degree use of a juvenile to commit a criminal offense, second-degree robbery, third-degree theft by unlawful taking of a motor vehicle, and third-degree altering of a motor vehicle.

He remains in custody at the Bergen County Jail.

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