- Mecca Lee-Bey, 20, was seen Monday taking $2,500 worth of merchandise from a local business in Tyson’s Corner
- He was arrested after stealing a teenager’s 2013 Kia Optima and slamming it into the pump at a local gas station
- Just a week earlier, Lee-Bey had been arrested and charged for a separate carjacking when he stole a vehicle from someone at knifepoint.
A Washington DC man was captured on video slamming a stolen car into the pump of a Virginia gas station just a week after he was arrested and charged in a separate carjacking.
Mecca Lee-Bey, 20, was seen taking $2,500 worth of merchandise from a local business in Tyson’s Corner on Monday.
He ran away after being approached by local police before disappearing into a car park.
Lee-Bey then tried to get into a 2013 Kia Optima, which had an unknown teenager behind the wheel.
The teenage driver panicked and started to drive away, but Lee-Bay held the door, dragging him for a while.
A Washington DC man was seen slamming a stolen car into the pump of a Virginia gas station, just a week after he was arrested and charged in a separate carjacking.
The driver eventually stopped and abandoned the car, at which point Lee-Bay got in and began driving away.
Police say he started to leave on a local toll road before making a U-turn.
Eventually, security cameras show him pulling into a Shell gas station on Leesburg Pike, where he crashes into one of the gas pumps.
Lee-Bey then tried to run into the gas station before being caught by authorities and taken into custody.
He was charged with carjacking and grand theft.
Just a week earlier, Lee-Bey and another man – 26-year-old Tumarcus Hawkins – had been arrested, again for stealing a car.
On October 20, the car owner described Lee-Bey stealing the vehicle after holding it at knifepoint.
“He was holding a knife and said, give me everything you have, give me all your money, your wallet, your car keys,” the victim of the first carjacking said. WUSA.
Eventually, security cameras show the man driving into a Shell gas station on Leesburg Pike, where he crashes into one of the gas pumps.
The victim said Lee-Bey told another man to pay attention to him and not let him leave.
‘He asked a man to watch me. He told the man, “Don’t let this man go or I will kill you,” the teen said.
They were able to track down the stolen car and arrested Lee-Bey three days later on October 23.
He is initially charged with kidnapping, armed robbery, simple assault, unauthorized use of a vehicle and theft.
Local authorities admitted their frustration after Lee-Bey committed another crime within a week of his arrest for the first car theft.
“When it’s all said and done and you hear something like that, it’s frustrating for the officers, but we also realize that we are just one part of the criminal justice system,” said Sgt. Jacob Pearce.
County police say Lee-Bey is currently being held without bail at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center.
Local courts and the Washington DC district attorney declined to comment on why Lee-Bey was released so quickly.