Clearwater Man Arrested After Carjacking in Clearwater
November 21, 2014
Clearwater police responded to a carjacking this morning in the 2300 block of Willow Tree Trail about 7AM. The 55 year-old resident there started his 2007 Dodge Ram truck, then went to retrieve the newspaper from his driveway.
22-year-old Oren Wickberg Jr. of Clearwater jumped in the truck and tried to drive off. A tussle ensued in the cab of the truck and the suspect threw it in reverse and took off, causing the owner to fall out of the truck. The owner of the truck was treated and released from a local hospital.
Wickberg last was seen driving east from Clearwater toward Tampa. Clearwater Police alerted nearby jurisdictions of the carjacking. About three and a half hours later, the truck was involved in a crash near U.S. 41 and Bullfrog Creek in Gibsonton. He was taken into custody by Hillsborough County sheriff’s deputies.
Wickberg, who has numerous prior arrests in Pinellas County, is charged with carjacking by Clearwater Police. He is being held in the Hillsborough County Jail on charges of grand theft of a motor vehicle, burglary of an unoccupied conveyance and leaving the scene of an accident.