Florida has earned its reputation as the carjacking capital of America for a reason.
The state sees violent armed robberies every day.
But a masked teen pointed a gun at one Florida mom and said three words that made a judge slam the gavel.
Kenneth Shears, 18, walked up to a mother of three sitting in her car in an Orlando parking lot on Saturday night.
He pointed a gun at her face and demanded her vehicle.
What happened next has law enforcement scratching their heads.
"I am sorry to be doing this, but I need to see my grandmother," Shears told the terrified woman.
The mother thought it was a joke at first.
She begged Shears for five minutes not to take her car.
She even offered to drive him to his grandmother's house.
Shears promised he would return the car before speeding off.
Deputies caught him minutes later after a brief chase that ended with Shears crashing the stolen vehicle into a parked car on someone's front lawn.
The crash totaled both vehicles.
Victim Left Confused By Bizarre Carjacking
The victim spoke to FOX35 Orlando and said something seemed off about the whole encounter.
"He looked like something was wrong," she explained.
Shears could have robbed her of jewelry, cash, credit cards, and her laptop.
He didn't take any of it.
Shears was singularly focused on getting that car to supposedly visit his grandmother.
There's just one problem with his story.
Deputies discovered Shears has never had a driver's license in his life.
Florida's Carjacking Crisis Shows No Signs Of Slowing
Armed carjackings surged 93% nationwide from 2019 to 2023 before finally dropping in 2025.
Florida has been one of the hardest-hit states.
More than half of all carjackings involve firearms like the one Shears used.
The Federal Anti-Car-Theft Act of 1992 was created specifically because carjacking exploded during the 1980s and 1990s.
Florida's carjacking laws are among the toughest in the nation.
An unarmed carjacking carries up to 30 years in prison.
Armed carjacking can get you life behind bars.
Shears is facing carjacking with a firearm, aggravated fleeing from police, leaving the scene of a crash, and driving without a valid license.
The carjacking and fleeing charges are felonies.
He's being held at the Orange County Jail with bond set at $6,500 on most charges.
But he's being held without bond on the carjacking charge.
The victim said she hoped Shears would learn from this experience before it's too late.
"There's better ways of dealing with whatever life throws at you," she told reporters. "You don't need to rob people and cheat your way through life."
Sources:
- Stephen Sorace, "Florida man allegedly tells victim 'sorry… I need to see my grandmother' during armed carjacking," Fox News, January 27, 2026.
- Wilko Martínez-Cachero, "Masked teen carjacks woman at gunpoint, allegedly tells her 'sorry … I need to see my grandmother'," Daily Mail, January 27, 2026.
- Council on Criminal Justice, "Crime Trends in U.S. Cities: Mid-Year 2025 Update," July 22, 2025.
