Robbers Commandeer A 70-Year Old Woman’s Car Only To Realize They Couldn’t Drive A Stick

Car-jacking is a pretty common crime in the United States. However, advancement in automotive technology actually thwarted an attempt by robbers to getaway in a 70-year Old’s five-speed stick shift Kia.

The serious, though hilarious incident happened in the city of Seattle when septuagenarian Nancy Frederickson returned to her apartment complex and was getting out her sleeping bag from the trunk of her trusty old Kia. When she took it out and was getting ready to shut the trunk, she was accosted by three teenagers who demanded she hand over her keys, reported Kiro TV.

Though Nancy thought it was a joke at first, the seriousness of the situation sank in when one of them pointed a gun at her face. Though, a black-belt in Karate, Nancy knew better than to engage in a fist-fight with three young adults with a hand-gun. Handing over the keys, Nancy withdrew quietly, but was in for a bit of a fun. She later told the police,

“I got a 5-speed in there, and they couldn’t figure out how to get it going”

The trio couldn’t make their getaway because none of them knew how to operate a manual transmission. Meanwhile, Frederickson was just standing behind her vehicle as the teens tried and failed to move it. After struggling to get their would-be getaway car in motion, the three teenagers simply abandoned the vehicle and fled on foot. Though unable to drive, the trio somehow made good with their escape via a parking lot of a neighboring business. Security footage obtained later, showed three males sprinting away from the scene, reported CBS News.

Technology in cars has grown by leaps and bounds. Gone are the days of rolling down windows and manually switching on the wipers. Today’s cars are increasingly automated with buttons on the steering wheel replacing levers and switches. However, stick-shift gears, though increasingly being replaced by automatic transmission, are still being driven around the United States. The would-be carjackers were merely unfortunate to have picked up an old beat-up Kia that had manual transmission. One of the neighbors managed to quip about the incident,

“They can’t drive a stick?”

Though the teenagers have evaded arrest, they will soon be apprehended cause they have left a lot of evidence in and on the car. Police have reportedly taken fingerprints and also retrieved DNA and fiber evidence from the vehicle. Despite the scare, the 70-year Old managed to smile about the incident,

“It was quite an interesting day,” said Frederickson. “Let’s put it that way.”