St. Louis Carjacker Stymied by Stick Shift

A would-be criminal is foiled by his inability to drive a manual transmission car.

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Craig P. Jewell / Getty Images

If you’re going to steal a car, you’d better know how to drive it.  An attempted car-jacking went south last weekend after the perpetrator couldn’t get the vehicle in gear, prompting the victim to offer his attacker a ride.

After robbing a man of $24 at gunpoint in a Saint Louis University parking lot, an as-yet unidentified criminal attempted to hop into his victim’s car and drive away, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes. But instead of fleeing to safety, the robber reportedly could not figure out how to work the car’s manual transmission — so the understanding victim  (who was still faced with a firearm) offered to drive him to his destination.

(More: Not-So-Smooth Criminal: Thief Steals Safe, Leaves Cash)

After the victim dropped off his passenger near a park, “the robber thanked the man and exited the car,” the Post-Dispatch reports.

The Associated Press reporters that a police investigation is underway, but no arrests have been made.

More: Girl Scouts Punch Thief, Jump on Car in Cookie-Cash Robbery