Kidnapping: Carjacking and Related Crimes

“Carjacking is defined as completed or attempted robbery of a motor vehicle by a stranger to the victim. It differs from other motor vehicle theft because the victim is present and the offender uses or threatens to use force” (Klaus 2004). Carjacking may include other offenses such as kidnapping, robbery, rape, and homicide. Other types of motor vehicles are also hijacked. For example, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, an ambulance was reportedly hijacked with a sleeping ambulance worker inside (Associated Press, 2014, February 8).