Deputies: Off-duty JSO officer thwarts carjacking

St. Johns County Sheriff's Office booking photo of Lorent Pion

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – An off-duty Jacksonville Sheriff's officer helped stop an attempted carjacking at a St. Augustine gas station on Monday, according to the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office.

Deputies were called to the Flying J gas station on State Road 206, just off Interstate 95, about noon Monday after reports of a possible robbery in the parking lot.

Recommended Videos



When deputies arrived, a suspect was being pinned down and secured by handcuffs by an off-duty JSO officer.

The suspect, identified as 19-year-old Lorent J. Pion of Miami Gardens, was seen pulling the victim, whose identity was not released, out of her car in an attempt to take her car. The off-duty officer and others witnessed the attempted carjacking and pulled Pion out of the victim's car and secured him.

The victim suffered marks and bruising to her left arm, according to the responding deputy's report.

Pion was arrested and charged with carjacking and battery and was booked into the St. Johns County Jail.