A pair of teenage carjackers in Montgomery County, Maryland, learned that stealing a car isn’t as simple as forcing someone out of it—you also need to know how to drive it. Their attempted crime fell apart when they realized the vehicle had a manual transmission, something neither of them knew how to operate.
The incident took place at a Sunoco gas station in Germantown around 4:30 p.m. on a Saturday. Surveillance footage showed the two suspects—a 17-year-old from Washington, D.C., and a 16-year-old from Rockville—approaching a blue vehicle just as its owner was getting in. The teens forcibly removed the driver, likely assuming their getaway would be quick and easy. Instead, after fumbling with the gears and failing to move the car, they abandoned the plan and took off on foot.
Police officers located the suspects about 30 minutes later in a nearby block. When officers tried to arrest them, the teens attempted to flee but were quickly caught after a brief foot chase. They were taken into custody and charged with carjacking and conspiracy to commit carjacking.
Stick Shift: The Unexpected Anti-Theft System
This isn’t the first time a manual transmission has thwarted a carjacking. In a similar case from Detroit, three suspects attempted to steal a 2006 Acura TSX but quickly gave up after realizing none of them could drive stick. Surveillance footage showed them struggling with the controls before deciding to flee.
With automatic transmissions dominating the market, fewer people today know how to operate a manual vehicle. While car enthusiasts appreciate stick shifts for the added control and driving experience, the general public has largely moved away from them. Ironically, this decline in popularity has turned stick shifts into an unlikely theft deterrent, as many modern criminals lack the basic skills to drive them.
In the case of the Germantown carjacking, the victim was fortunate—his car’s transmission may have saved him from losing his vehicle. For would-be thieves, this serves as a reminder: if you’re planning to steal a car, you might want to learn how to drive it first.