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SALT LAKE CITY — A man is now facing a federal charge accusing him of trying to steal a woman's car with her 7-year-old daughter still inside as the mother desperately attempted to fight him off.
A felony complaint of carjacking has been filed in U.S. District Court against 32-year-old Zachery Lance Cover.
About 9:15 a.m. Wednesday, Salt Lake police received a 911 call from a woman who stated that a man had just tried to steal her BMW. Officers responded to the area of 1000 West and 200 North and learned that the woman was driving with her 7-year-old daughter when she stopped her car to check on a tire problem.
"She left the vehicle running and the driver's door open while she went to check the tire pressure," according to charging documents.
While she was checking her tire, Cover jumped into the driver's seat. The woman "ran to the driver's door and reached in through the open window in an attempt to stop the male from leaving.
"She pleaded with the male not to take her car because her daughter was in the car," the charges state.
Cover allegedly told the woman to take her daughter and get out. Instead, the woman opened the driver's door and pulled Cover out, according to the charges. Cover "then began hitting and fighting with her as they both went down to the ground."
The woman, who says she was hit several times, told police she was able to break free and get into the driver's seat, but the gear shifter got caught in neutral, allowing Cover time to "jump into the vehicles driver's seat on top of (the woman) and again started hitting her.
"(She) said the male pulled what she believed to be a black handgun from his pocket and she thought instantly that she and her daughter were going to be shot and killed," according to the charges.
The two fell out of the car onto the ground again where Cover "continued hitting her," investigators say. The gun also fell to the ground, "and it broke into several pieces, causing her to believe it was likely a toy gun.
After the woman was able to break free a second time, she got back into her car and this time was able to drive away and call 911. She then followed Cover from a distance, giving emergency dispatchers updates on his location until police arrived and arrested him.
