Carjacker hijacks minivan with grandmother and 2 year-old on board

Bob Taft and the Ohio State Highway Patrol bureaucracy worked to poison House Bill 12 with a lockbox, or "carjacker protection" provision that would, at the very least, allow this type of crime to continue undeterred, and that would more likely, encourage many more to be perpetrated.

Man takes van with 2 aboard, is quickly corralled by police
Toledo Blade
November 16, 2003

A man who seems to have a flair for drama when stealing vehicles has done it again - this time taking a minivan containing a 75-year-old woman and her 2-year-old grandson, Toledo police said.

The man, who took the minivan from the parking lot of a North Toledo store, nearly hit a store employee who tried to stop him.

The man was arrested minutes later a few blocks away. The woman and child were not hurt, police said.

In the past, the man has stolen his own grandmother’s car, a Wood County deputy’s patrol car while handcuffed, and a car from a service station. In that instance, when he couldn’t get the garage door open, he drove through it.

For yesterday’s incident, Nash Laraby, 28, of Rossway Avenue, Rossford, was charged with abduction and aggravated theft. He was being held in the Lucas County jail.

Click on the "Read More..." link below to learn how this grandmother was unable to protect her grandchild by "just driving away" when they were attacked in their car.

The incident began about 5:10 p.m., when a woman pulled into the Toys R Us store, 340 New Towne Square Drive, to pick up a child’s car seat she purchased.

The woman left the minivan running with her son, who was sleeping, and the woman’s mother inside while she went into the store, Sgt. Greg Smith said.

Police declined to release the names of the three people, all of whom are from Monroe.

Minutes later, as she walked out with a store employee carrying the seat, she saw a man in the minivan.

"We got to within two or three feet from the van when it sped off. It did a loop around the parking lot and came back to the exit door," Matt Hogan, 18, the store employee, said.

Mr. Hogan stepped in front of the vehicle, trying to stop it, but it swerved around him, nearly hitting him, the sergeant said.

"I didn’t know what was going on," said Mr. Hogan, a University of Toledo freshman. "Now I’m just a little shaken."

A description of the minivan was broadcast by police.

About two minutes later, officers saw the vehicle in a parking lot at Bennett Road and Eleanor Avenue where Laraby decided to drop off his passengers, Sergeant Smith said.

"I opened up the driver’s door and grabbed him," said Officer Jason Brown. "It feels good."

Assisted by his partner, Officer Jason Lenhardt, Officer Brown arrested Laraby without incident.

In July, 2001, Laraby took his grandmother’s car and crashed it in Pemberville, Ohio. After Wood County deputies arrested him, they left him alone in the rear of a patrol car.

Laraby managed to get his handcuffed arms in front of him, crawled through the prisoner shield, and drove the cruiser away, leading authorities on a chase through parts of Wood and Lucas counties that reached speeds of up to 100 mph. He was arrested in Toledo.

In May, 1998, Laraby broke into Bob & Joe’s Union 76 Oil Service station, 663 Dearborn Ave., stole a 1991 Honda Civic and, unable to open the garage door, plowed through it, severely damaging the car.

A short time later, Toledo police officers observed the car. He was pursued by Toledo, Washington Township, and Michigan State police, and Monroe County sheriff’s deputies. He was arrested near Luna Pier in Michigan.

For each of the incidents, Laraby was sentenced to serve time in Ohio and Michigan prisons.

In 1994, a Sandusky County judge sentenced him to prison for vandalism, having a weapon under disability, and discharge of a firearm at a habitat or school. Details of those crimes were not available last night.

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