A man who tried to drag a Gladstone woman out of her own car, then stole her keys and ran, has been sentenced to 12 years in prison. Christopher Kennedy pleaded guilty to second-degree robbery in July, and the sentence closes out a case in which the woman fought back and called for help.
A Violent Confrontation After She Arrived Home
According to KCTV, Kennedy approached the woman's car after she arrived home and attempted to pull her out of the vehicle. She fought back against him, but Kennedy still managed to wrench away her keys and take off running from the scene, the station reports.
The woman called 911 and told dispatchers she had locked herself inside her own car in the aftermath of the robbery, per the same KCTV account. Gladstone police and a K-9 unit tracked Kennedy down and arrested him, the station notes.
Guilty Plea Leads to Sentencing
Kennedy pleaded guilty to the charges in July, and a court sentenced him to 12 years in prison for robbery in the second degree, according to the KCTV report. Under Missouri Revised Statutes § 570.025, a person commits second-degree robbery when they forcibly steal property and, in the course of doing so, cause physical injury to another person — the statute that governed the charge against Kennedy.
The case underscores how a carjacking attempt that starts after someone arrives home can escalate into a serious felony case with a lengthy prison term attached. For the Gladstone woman at the center of it, the ordeal ended with her attacker behind bars for over a decade — after she locked herself inside her car and called 911.
