Clinging Carjacker Gets Slap on the Wrist

A man who attempted to violently carjack a Lubavitcher motorist and others in 2014 was sentenced last week by a district court judge to zero jail time, despite facing more than a dozen serious charges following his arrest and an extensive criminal history. A video of the attacker clinging to the side of a taxi as it drove on the highway for nine miles went viral at the time.

Three years ago, in late April, 2014, a Crown Heights resident on his way home from work had a harrowing experience when a man attempted to carjack his vehicle as he was driving through the Bronx. The driver then filmed a dramatic scene unfold as the attacker attempted to break into several other vehicles, one of which he clung to for almost nine miles along a busy highway.

The suspect eventually fell off the vehicle, a taxi, and then ran over to another vehicle occupied by an elderly man and pulled him out. He then crashed the vehicle into a tractor trailer before he was finally apprehended and placed under arrest. The suspect admitted to being heavily intoxicated with a variety of narcotics.

The video our reader filmed of the attack went viral, showing the suspect, later identified as 26-year-old Matthew McCorkle, clinging to the side of a taxi driving at a high speed down the Bruckner Expressway.

Prior to this event, McCorkle had a long rap sheet that includes criminal possession of a stolen weapon, driving with a suspended license and drug violations.

The Crown Heights resident’s assistance to the prosecutors in the case was acknowledged in a letter he received today from the Bronx District Attorney, thanking him and informing him that McCorkle had been sentenced to three years’ probation (see below).