Jermaine Leatre Shetworth Ware attacked two drivers, carjacking one of them, cops said. (Mug shot: Polk County Jail in Iowa; screenshot: Broadcastify)
Amid rough winter weather, a man allegedly attacked two separate drivers who came to his aid, and he managed to carjack one of them before Iowa State Police managed to stop him with a PIT maneuver on Friday.
Jermaine Leatre Shetworth Ware, 28, is currently in the Polk County Jail without bond for charges including eluding, theft in the second degree, robbery in the first degree, interference with official acts, and operating while under the influence, records show.
Cops in Des Moines, Iowa, said a driver shortly after 6 a.m. picked up a pedestrian who looked like he needed help.
Shortly into the drive, the pedestrian — Shetworth Ware — violently assaulted the 50-year-old driver and tried to steal the car, police said.
That theft attempt failed, and Shetworth Ware flagged down another driver on I-235. This carjacking attempt was successful, they said.
“The victim saw the defendant running along the side of the interstate so she let him into her car to help him,” stated documents viewed by Law&Crime. “The victim became nervous of the defendant’s paranoid behavior and attempted to pull over. Once the victim was able to stop on the side of the road, the defendant began slamming his body into hers, causing her to slam into the driver’s side door. The defendant repeatedly slammed the victim into her driver’s side door with his body many times.”
The woman managed to take her car keys out of the ignition while the man continued to attack her, documents stated.
“The defendant reached over the victim, opened her door, and slammed his body into her until she fell out of her vehicle and into the travel portion of the interstate,” authorities wrote.
He got into the driver’s seat and realized the keys were missing, documents stated.
The suspect allegedly got out of the car and jumped onto the woman. He allegedly put his knee on her throat, stopping her breathing.
“While holding his knee in the victim’s throat, the defendant began biting the victim’s right hand to get her to release the car keys,” they wrote. “The defendant was eventually able to take the keys from the victim and he got into her car and drove away.”
The driver sustained cuts and bite marks to her right hand as well as redness to the left side of her throat, officers said.
One of the arresting troopers described bringing the vehicle to a stop using a PIT maneuver.
Shetworth Ware allegedly ran out of the passenger door, but he complied when the trooper told him at gunpoint to get on the ground.
Authorities described him as smelling of marijuana, acting intoxicated by drugs, being paranoid, and yelling during the trip to the jail
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