Detectives traveled to Tampa Tuesday to question a 16-year-old about his possible connection to recent carjackings in the Gainesville area.
The teenager, who was in school at the Tampa Marine Institute at the time of his arrest, said he had participated in two carjackings that took place in the past week, said Gainesville Police Department spokeswoman Summer Hallett.
Both cases involved female victims who were walking back to their cars through a parking lot early in the morning.
A 35-year-old woman was injured in the first incident, which occurred at a Walgreens on West Newberry Road around 2:30 a.m. Saturday, said Art Forgey, ASO spokesman.
The woman told police a man opened the driver's door of her Mitsubishi sedan and hit her in the head with a gun. He then told her to get out of the car and to be quiet, Forgey said.
The man was unable to start the car, and he ran away with a handbag containing lipstick and some medication.
In the second case, a 57-year-old woman was getting into her car, parked at the Wal-Mart in Butler Plaza Monday morning, when a man pointed a long-barreled firearm at her, she told police.
He drove away in her Dodge Stratus, which officers found in Tampa.
Both the sheriff's office and GPD are conducting an investigation into the connection between the carjackings.
