A Cape Cod man is facing multiple criminal charges after police say he stole a car from an auto repair shop and hit the shop’s owner as he sped away in Dennis, Massachusetts.
The ordeal was caught on security camera, and it’s a scene those working at Town Auto Service in Dennis say they will never forget.
“I was lucky to be alive,” said Town Auto Service Owner Nas Mahfouz.
Mahfouz is counting his blessings after a stranger walked up to him shortly after opening Tuesday morning, behaving erratically.
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"He came in yelling people are following him, they want to kill him, 'please hide me'. So I told him, 'man, you cannot be here,’” Mahfouz recalled.
Mahfouz said he told the man to stay in the garage while he called the police, and that’s when things went south.
Surveillance video from the shop appears to show the man – later identified by police as Joshua Lafrange, 29, of Mashpee – moments before he drives away with one of the cars in the shop.
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One of Mahfouz’s employees tried stopping Lafrange by closing the garage bay door – to no avail.
"It's like only in movies,” said Mahfouz.
Lafrange drove through the door and hit Mahfouz, who was standing outside, before taking off.
"I had to push myself off the hood of my car, or I would've been dead by now,” said Mahfouz.
Lafrange was caught minutes later in neighboring Harwich. He was booked in jail and issued a $750 bond.
Mahfouz is worries Lafrange could soon be out and hurt someone else again.
"I’m reliving the story like right now again, like what happened that day," Mahfouz added. "It makes me emotional and shaken up.”
