Woman arrested, charged in carjacking incident

SOUTH SALT LAKE — A woman who police say helped carjack a vehicle is in jail, and investigators believe she could be responsible for at least one other similar incident.

Janae Leean Woolstenhulme, 23, was charged Monday in 3rd District Court with aggravated kidnapping and aggravated robbery, both first-degree felonies.

On March 5, a man was outside his vehicle at a car lot near 2800 S. State when a second man came up from behind him, claimed he had a gun and told him to get into his car. The alleged gunman got into the back seat, and a woman got into the driver's seat.

The victim was taken to Wells Fargo Bank near 3300 S. State and forced to withdraw money from his account.

Later, as the couple drove him around a residential area, the victim saw an opportunity to escape as the car slowed for a stop sign, and he jumped out of the vehicle.

Based on surveillance video from the Wells Fargo incident, police were able to identify Woolstenhulme as the driver of the vehicle and found out she was already in the Salt Lake County Jail for a separate incident, said South Salt Lake police detective Gary Keller.

The search continued Tuesday for the male in the alleged carjacking. He was described as 35 years old, black, about 6-foot-2 and 155 pounds, last seen wearing black sweats and a black hoodie.

Investigators believe the couple may be responsible for a similar carjacking in Taylorsville on Feb. 18, Keller said. The circumstances and the suspect descriptions in that case were very similar, he said.

Woolstenhulme has an extensive criminal background, according to Utah State Court records, including drug, theft and forgery convictions.

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