A woman returning to her car in a New Jersey mall parking lot was accosted by two teenagers who tried to pull her out of the vehicle and take her car keys, police say.
The 34-year-old woman called 911 after her encounter with the would-be carjackers shortly before 1 p.m. Tuesday in the south parking lot of the Garden State Plaza, police said.
She told police she was sitting in her car when the teens opened her unlocked doors and tried to force her out. One of the suspects grabbed the car keys from her hand, but the teens ran away after the woman struggled with them.
Responding officers caught the teens, who had split up while fleeing, in nearby residential backyards. The 16-year-old Passaic boys were booked and charged with carjacking and resisting arrest at Paramus Police headquarters.
They remain in Bergen County Juvenile Detention Center in Teterboro without bail, according to police.
The victim declined medical attention.
In December, a 30-year-old lawyer from Hoboken was shot and killed by alleged carjackers as he and his wife returned to their Range Rover in the parking deck of The Mall at Short Hills. Dustin Friedland's widow has filed a lawsuit in her husband's death.