Police: Woman used knife to stop teen from entering her car after he broke into businesses

Sarah Lehr
Lansing State Journal

DELHI TWP —  A Lansing 18-year-old faces multiple charges related to a failed carjacking attempt and two incidents in which someone had crashed cars into businesses in an apparent effort to break in.

Deputies first responded to a breaking and entering report about 2:30 a.m.Tuesday at Sparty Liquor Party Store at the intersection of Eifert and Holt roads in Delhi Township, where someone had crashed a vehicle into the building's door in an apparent attempt to gain entry, according to an alert from the Ingham County Sheriff's Office.

Deputies responded to a similar incident later on Tuesday at Byrum Ace Hardware in Holt, where police believe someone crashed a vehicle into the front door in an attempt to break into that business.

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The alert from Ingham County does not specify whether any items were stolen from either store. 

Investigators found a vehicle with front-end damage on Willoughby Road near Cedar Street and attempted to stop the driver before the vehicle, which became stuck in a grassy area near a dead end at Dell Road in the city of Lansing, according to the alert.

While fleeing police, the 18-year-old man flagged down a 31-year-old Mason woman near Interstate 496 and forced himself into her vehicle. The woman scared him away with a knife, according to the alert. She was not injured.

Deputies say they later discovered the teenager had been driving a stolen vehicle and arrested him Tuesday afternoon. He is being held in the Ingham County Jail. 

The sheriff's office has not released the name of the suspect, whose case is set for arraignment Thursday afternoon.

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Contact reporter Sarah Lehr at (517) 377-1056 or slehr@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @SarahGLehr.