JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office is investigating a carjacking that happened over the weekend in a quiet residential neighborhood just south of San Marco, police confirmed to News4Jax.
Police have not revealed many details, only telling News4Jax that it happened about 3 a.m. Saturday near the intersection of Greenridge Road and Orlando Circle East in the Lakewood neighborhood, just east of the Miramar neighborhood, off Hendricks Avenue at Emerson Street.
Many neighbors living near the intersection of Greenridge Road and Orlando Circle East walked out their homes Saturday morning to discover police neighborhood canvass cards, notifying homeowners of the carjacking, on their front doors.
Henry Lawton, one of the homeowners who received a canvass card, said he's troubled by what he learned, but not totally surprised.
"It’s disturbing, but this day and time, anything is possible," he said.
Lawton said it's common to see people walking and running along Orlando Circle, sometimes even at night.
"I’ve walked out here at 3 or 4 o’clock in the morning because it feels comfortable," Lawton said.
But now that he knows a carjacking happened on his walking route, he said he's not as comfortable doing that.
"It is scary," Lawton said. "Many of us are retired. At 72, what am I going to do if someone approaches me with a weapon?"
According to a Sheriff's Office crime map, within the last four weeks, there have been two home burglaries, an armed robbery, a stolen vehicle, a vehicle burglary, six assaults -- one of which was on a first responder, two thefts and a case of vandalism reported within a half-mile radius of the intersection of Greenridge Road and Orlando Circle East where the carjacking happened.
"A carjacking means something else ugly can happen," Lawton said.
When News4Jax spoke with the lead investigator, he said neighbors with security cameras can aid in the investigation by checking to see whether their cameras recorded anything that might shed light on the case and a possible suspect.