Members of the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) Marine Unit instigated a traffic jam that resulted in the arrest of a woman who carjacked a vehicle with a toddler inside.
Hernando County Sheriff Al Nienhuis said that shortly after 10 a.m. on May 27, an independent delivery vehicle was making a delivery in the area of Ashland and Spring Hill Drives when the driver was forced out of the car and thrown to the ground by a woman later identified as 41-year-old Breanne Wendy Lucey.
Lucey then allegedly carjacked the vehicle, which also contained a 3-year-old child.
“Having a carjacking involving a 3- year-old is not only the worst nightmare for the caregiver, but the worst nightmare for law enforcement,” Nienhuis said.
After the carjacking, an HCSO deputy saw the vehicle at US 19 and Cortez Boulevard near the Weeki Wachee tourist attraction traveling westbound on Cortez Boulevard toward the beach and followed it.
Shortly thereafter, members of the HCSO Marine Unit were preparing to put their boat into the water.
“The car was headed southbound on Shoal Line Boulevard (the road that runs between Weeki Wachee and Hernando Beach), and they ( members of the Marine Unit) were able to facilitate a little bit of a traffic jam that was able to stop the female driver,” Nienhuis said. “She was taken into custody, and the 3-year-old was reunited with the caregiver, and everybody is safe and sound.”
Lucey was subsequently charged with kidnapping a minor child under 13 years old, carjacking without a weapon, and fleeing to elude the police.
She was booked into the Hernando County Detention Center on a $105,000 bond.
The investigation into the incident is ongoing.
