This story was updated Feb. 5.
A 42-year-old Gainesville woman was arrested Tuesday on charges of unarmed carjacking. She is also facing pending charges for fleeing law enforcement at high speeds.
According to Gainesville Police Department arrest reports, Jessica Hord approached a man while he was fixing his driver’s side car door. She then wrapped her arms around him, forcefully threw him to the ground and sped away in his car. The incident occurred at approximately 1:34 p.m.
Moments later, the Alachua County Sheriff's Office spotted a silver BMW launching over a median strip and into oncoming traffic, prompting Deputy Jim Yancy to conduct a traffic stop. However, the driver refused to comply and sped away in an attempt to evade law enforcement. At the time, Yancy did not have any knowledge of the vehicle’s connection to a possible carjacking.
During the pursuit, Yancy received information from the GPD about the suspected carjacking. The reported stolen vehicle was the same silver BMW in the deputy's chase, according to Chris Sims, the captain of the public information and community services division at the ACSO.
Yancy was on Southwest Williston Road near the Interstate 75 North exit ramp, preparing to execute a precision immobilization technique maneuver to stop the suspect. The tactic would cause the fleeing vehicle to veer sharply off course and force it to come to a stop. However, before he could initiate the maneuver, the silver BMW lost control, went over the median strip edge and crashed into the cab of a FedEx semi-truck, Sims said.
After the crash, Hord was identified as the suspect. She sustained several non-life-threatening injuries and was taken to an area hospital, Sims said. The FedEx truck driver emerged largely unscathed.
Prior to this incident, at approximately 9:20 a.m., GPD officers witnessed Hord smoking a narcotic from a clear pipe while patrolling the 401 S Main St. area.
They approached her, and she spontaneously admitted to smoking crack. She was also found in possession of less than 20 grams of marijuana. The officers submitted a sworn complaint.
Hord currently faces charges of unarmed carjacking, with additional charges pending from the ACSO for fleeing law enforcement at high speeds.
Southwest Williston Road and the exit ramp of Interstate 75 North were briefly closed but have since been reopened.
Contact Annie Wang at awang@alligator.org. Follow her on X @wynwg.
Annie Wang is a metro general assignment reporter and a second-year journalism major. She has previously worked on the university desk as the university administration reporter. She enjoys reading and writing book reviews in her spare time.
