A 36-year-old man was charged Tuesday with attempting to carjack a vehicle from a Garden Grove car show with the driver’s grandson in the vehicle.
Jose Manuel Varela Jr. was charged with attempted carjacking, child abuse and endangerment and inflicting injury on an elder adult, all felonies. He pleaded not guilty at his arraignment Tuesday in the jail courtroom in Santa Ana.
The driver, who is in his 70s, was driving away from a car show Friday at Euclid Street and Acacia Parkway when the defendant “tried to jump in and take the vehicle,” Garden Grove police Sgt. Nick Jensen said.
“They got in a scuffle and he was detained until officers got there,” Jensen said.
The conflict happened about 100 yards from the city’s police station, so officers quickly responded, Jensen said.
The driver’s grandson, who is about 10 to 12 years old, was in the car at the time, Jensen said.