Florida woman gets carjacked at restaurant chain; Suspect behind bars

WINTER PARK, Fla. - A Florida man is accused of attacking a woman and stealing her car before leading police on a high-speed cross-county chase. 

 James Seth Yawn, 38, is accused of several criminal violations after police say he drove off in a stolen vehicle and attempted to flee and elude police in a chase on Wednesday night, April 29. 

What we know:

The Winter Park Police Department responded to reports of an armed robbery and carjacking on Aloma Avenue, Wednesday evening, April 29.

The department said officers chased the stolen vehicle – with the assistance of a PIT maneuver by Florida Highway Patrol troopers – until the chase ended near mile marker 113 in Deltona on I-4. He was chased for 30 miles – across three counties. 

Yawn was said to be traveling at a high speed, weaving in and out of moderate traffic and driving aggressively without regard to the safety of others in the road, a Florida Highway Patrol report said. Yawn was described as having very red, watery glossy bloodshot eyes and white crust in the corners of his mouth, troopers said. He also showed indicators of being under the influence of cannabis, FHP said. 

Yawn told troopers that prior to the armed carjacking, he was traveling in Osceola County – in which he reportedly visited a gun supply shop and stopped to get lunch at a dining establishment for lunch before he thought a member of the Mexican cartel was watching him, a FHP report said. After, Yawn told troopers he went to a shop near the University of Central Florida to purchase and smoke Cannabia, and then drove to Winter Park where to burglarized a home, robbed a gas station, and attempted to carjack a vehicle before successfully carjacking the woman's car, FHP said. 

A witness account: ‘Pulled out a gun’ 

A woman told FOX 35 News she and her dad heard the woman screaming outside a Panera Bread location in Winter Park. The witness said Yawn tried to take the woman's purse and keys before taking out a gun and leaving in her car, FOX 35's Stephanie Buffamonte reported. 

"We were talking outside and then, all of a sudden, we hear a woman yelling for help," the woman told Buffamonte. "… When he was tackling her and attacking her – she was on the ground – my father and one of his Bible study friends started to hold the guy back." 

The witness said Yawn said to "stay back" and started taking off his shirt before reaching into his pants and taking out a gun. Yawn then jumped into the woman's truck and took off, the woman said. 

Yawn was arrested on the following criminal violations: armed carjacking, kidnapping with a firearm, armed robbery, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, tampering with or harassing a victim, criminal mischief greater than $1,000, and fleeing and eluding law enforcement, and battery. He was transported to the Seminole County Jail.

Before a Seminole County judge on April 30, Yawn entered a plea of not guilty. 

What's next:

Yawn will be transferred to Orange County to face charges there as well.