Juvenile Crime Task Force officers Tuesday night enlisted the help of OnStar to shut down a carjacked Chevrolet Camaro after the teenage driver sped away from officers on I-65 north.
The two occupants of the 2021 model Camaro, Demario Petty, 19, and his brother, Carlos Petty, 17, fled from the car after it was disabled. Demario was quickly apprehended while hiding in a wood line. Carlos was arrested with the help of a MNPD canine team. The loaded semi-automatic pistol used in that carjacking, and another one earlier in the evening, was recovered from the Camaro.
The first carjacking occurred at 8:50 p.m. on Trellis Way in Goodlettsville. The 31-year-old owner of a 2012 Jeep Wrangler reported that two young men approached his vehicle and robbed him of it at gunpoint.
The Camaro was carjacked in the 1100 block of Stockell Street at 9:05 p.m. The 33-year-old victim reported that a Jeep and a second vehicle crashed into the front and rear of the Camaro. He said a young man armed with a gun approached and demanded the car. He said the gunman fired a shot into the Camaro, breaking the passenger window.
Juvenile Crime Task Force officers spotted the Camaro as it traveled onto Ellington Parkway and then I-65 North. After the driver refused to stop for ground units, a police helicopter flew into the area and monitored the car from the air while a request was made to OnStar to shut the vehicle down.
During interviews, Demario Petty admitted that he had the gun during both carjackings and that it was his brother who forcefully removed the driver of the Jeep.
OnStar informed officers that the carjacked Camaro was stationary for a brief time in the 100 block of N. 7th Street before officers spotted it. A check of that area after the apprehension of the Petty brothers led to the discovery of the carjacked Jeep and a Nissan Altima that was taken in a carjacking on Robertson Avenue in West Nashville at 7:55 p.m. Tuesday.
Demario Petty is being held in lieu of $145,000 bond on two counts of carjacking, felony reckless endangerment with a firearm, felony evading arrest, using a firearm in the commission of a dangerous felony, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and driving without a license.
Carlos Petty is charged at juvenile detention with two counts of carjacking, unlawful gun possession, and evading arrest.
