F’ville auto parts customer carjacked outside store

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Note to carjackers: Steal a vehicle that doesn’t need a new fuel pump.

Fayette County Sheriff’s investigators are searching for two men who carjacked a customer on July 12 in the parking lot of the Auto Zone store on Ga. Highway 314 north of Fayetteville.

The male customer had just bought a fuel pump in the parts store late Friday afternoon. The carjackers saw he had a lot of cash on him and followed him out to his car, Sheriff Barry Babb said.

In the parking lot, the two dark-skinned black males, 5-feet-10-inches to 6-feet-1-inch in height and 18-21 years of age, pulled a handgun and forced the customer into his car.

The victim said one of the men had mini-Afro-styled hair, a star tattooed under one eye and was wearing a black T-shirt and jeans. The other man wore a hat, khaki shorts and a white Michael Jordan T-shirt.

Babb said the robbers had been in the store earlier and were asked by an employee if he could help them after they aroused his suspicion. Babb said he believes the men were there to rob the store but decided against it due to the large number of customers present.

Instead, they targeted the fuel pump buyer.

Within two blocks of the store, the carjackers discovered why the customer had bought a fuel pump. The vehicle sputtered to a stop.

The robbers jumped from the stalled vehicle and fled on foot, leaving the victim unhurt, said Babb.

Babb noted that deputies were on the scene quickly since other people at the Auto Zone saw what happened and called 911.