Man who carjacked elderly woman at California senior highrise pleads guilty
A Greene County man who carjacked an elderly woman in June 2024 after pretending to offer her help when she parked outside her senior highrise in California pleaded guilty Tuesday and was immediately sentenced to prison.
James Raymond Sickles, 30, of Clarksville, appeared in the Washington County Courthouse and pleaded guilty to felony robbery of a motor vehicle and several other charges before Judge Traci McDonald sentenced him to 2 to 4 years in prison as part of the deal negotiated with prosecutors.
California police officers responded June 24, 2024, to the Liberty Tower Highrise senior living facility at 520 Liberty St. for a report of a carjacking. A woman who lived at the facility told officers that she was getting out of her car when Sickles approached her and asked if she needed assistance, which she accepted by asking if he could hold her walker.
But Sickles grabbed the woman and threw her to the side before getting in her car.
“I’m taking your car,” Sickles told the woman, according to court documents.
Sickles then nearly hit the woman with her own car as he drove away from the scene. Investigators were able to locate the vehicle using its GPS tracking and followed it as it traveled toward Clarksville.
He eventually crashed into a guardrail near Clarksville and left the scene. Police found him at his stepfather’s house and he was arrested without incident, according to court documents.
Sickles has been held at the Washington County jail on $250,000 cash bond since his arrest, so he will be given credit for time served.
His defense attorney, Steven Toprani, could not be reached for comment Wednesday to discuss the plea deal.
Washington County District Attorney Jason Walsh said prosecutors consulted with the victim and she consented to the plea deal. She was not seriously injured in the incident.