WEST SENECA, N.Y. — When people think of an attempted car jacking, they generally think about the worst case scenarios. Your life is in danger, your property gets stolen or damage, or some other extremely unlucky event occurs.
But a 75-year-old man in the parking lot of a West Seneca Wegmans wanted to stand his ground and prevent any of that from happening.
Around 7 p.m., two men approached the 75-year-old with masks on while he put groceries in his vehicle.
One masked man pointed what appeared to be a Glock handgun at the victim, demanding his keys. The gun was a replica and not functioning, according to West Seneca Lieutenant Jon Luterek.
2 On Your Side spoke with shoppers at the West Seneca Wegmans to see what they thought about the incident that occurred the night before.
"I'm gonna whoop their ... ," one shopper said of what he would do in a similar situation.
The victim's description of what happened did not include as strong language as the shopper's, but he did say he kicked one of the masked suspects in the groin, causing both male attempted car jackers to flee the scene.
According to police, the incident involved two adult men, two adult women, and two juvenile girls.
Kevin Backer, a West Seneca resident, saw some of the attempted car jackers after they got down the road.
"You saw two guys running down the street, and they turned up my driveway and didn't see me until the last second," Backer said.
Backer said he asked them if he could help the two men, but they said no and jumped the fence into his neighbor's property. Shortly after, two officers approached Backer, asking where the suspects ran to.
West Seneca Police are still searching for one of the male suspects after the incident on Tuesday evening. The West Seneca Police Department was able to apprehend five of the suspects after they fled south down Orchard Park Road, toward Tops.
According to witnesses, the elderly victim was OK.
"I think we're all happy with the outcome," Lt. Luterek said. "I don't recommend if someone's pointing a firearm at you to take any action like that."
"Any piece of property is not worth your life," Lt. Luterek added.
Officers responded to the Briarhill Drive and Lyndale Court neighborhood, and Lt. Luterek described the area as "very safe."
"I never expected it to happen here but then again it can happen anywhere," one shopper said.
A search that was aided by a drone located five suspects: two juvenile girls, two adult women and an adult man. The replica firearm was recovered during the arrests. The two adult women — Nahjala Wilkins and Azmayah Chevere — and two juvenile girls were charged with attempted robbery in the first degree, two counts of attempted robbery in the second degree, attempted grand larceny in the third degree, conspiracy in the fourth degree, and resisting arrest.
The adult man, Andre Washington, 22, of Buffalo was charged with all the charges the women go, plus criminal use of a firearm in the second degree.
Police clarified that no shots were fired during the attempted robbery.
West Seneca Police are still searching for a sixth suspect, who they describe is a Black man wearing a white T-shirt and black pants. He was last seen walking on Route 400 and is believed to be out of the area after the drone footage lost sight of him.
According to a West Seneca press release, the juveniles were released on family court appearance tickets, in accordance with New York State law. The three adults charged were arraigned in West Seneca Justice Court at 3 a.m. Wednesday morning. Bail was set at $5,000 for Wilkins and Chevere and $25,000 for Washington. They were transported to the Erie County Holding Center and the incident remains under investigation.
"It worked out in this case, I don't officially recommend it," Lt. Luterek said. "I think we were all encouraged by that as well."
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact police at 716-674-2290 or the anonymous tip line at 716-675-8423.