Man arrested for carjacking again; two children and wife in car

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 SOUTH BEND, Ind. --- Earlier this week, a man allegedly smashed into a car in South Bend. He then sped off in that vehicle, with a mother and her two kids still inside and threatened to kill them, according to court documents.

Today, the judge set his bail at $50,000 cash.

The incident began at the intersection of Main St. and Sample St.in South Bend, according to court documents. Brown allegedly crashed into the family’s car and when the father got out of the car to check on his wife and children is when Brown allegedly pushed the father out of the way and sped away in the vehicle.

Brown told the mother and two children, “I am going to kill all of you. You are all going to die today,” according to court documents.

Brown continued at a high rate of speed until he, the wife and two children reached the intersection of Main Street and Michigan Street, according to court documents.

The mother then allegedly reached over and turned the vehicle off. Brown then ran from the scene and hid in the nearby Deliverance Cathedral, according to a witness.

This incident is not the first time James Michael Brown has been accused of a crime of this nature.

In April of 2018, ABC 57 first reported that James Michael Brown was charged with stealing a woman’s car at a Phillips 66 gas station, with her three-year-old son still in the car.

Brown was sentenced to two years in jail for theft of a vehicle. Now, Brown is charged with three counts of criminal confinement and five other felony counts.

ABC 57 spoke to the great-grandmother of the three-year-old boy that was involved in the first incident back in April about how she is feeling after a similar situation allegedly took place earlier this week.

“I was numb,” recalled Linda Nelson, family member of the first carjacking victim. “I was really scared because I was thinking we would never see him again,” said Nelson.

Nelson shared that she felt the pain the new victims are going through this week.

“I feel scared,” said Nelson. “I mean I understand the agony that they went through,” said Nelson.

Nelson feared that if it happened to her family once and now allegedly twice to another family, it could happen again.

“Something needs to be done,” said Nelson. “Because if it’s happened twice, it’s going to happen again because he’s not learning his lesson,” said Nelson.

ABC 57 did speak to the victims of the recent crime off-camera on Wednesday. The father and mother told ABC 57 they were still shaken up after the incident. The mother feared her kids were injured from the incident and the family’s focus is on the children at this time.


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