A Florida man has been convicted of carjacking a Black customer over a payment mix-up.
According to Local 10, 58-year-old Erik Hadad, who worked at Guru Auto Sales in Miramar, Florida, was convicted by a Miami federal jury earlier this month of carjacking a 24-year-old Haitian customer.
The case stemmed from an autopay issue that caused the customer to miss a loan payment on a 2020 Honda Accord he bought from Guru in October 2023. When the victim purchased the vehicle, authorities said he wasn't given a copy of the sales paperwork he had signed.
“In making the purchase, the victim understood that he was paying a finance company,” officials said. “What the victim was not aware of was that there was an agreement between the finance company and Guru, and if the victim was late on a payment within the first two months of the loan, then the finance company could demand the approximately $13,800 it paid for the loan back from the dealership.”
“That part of the agreement mattered because the victim’s first payment bounced after he set up autopay, with the victim paying the first installment late and with a late fee in late November 2023.”
The finance company sent Guru a letter in December 2023, saying the dealership needed to buy the loan back and owed roughly $13,000. Days later, prosecutors said Hadad carjacked the victim who was "current on his account that day." More, the dealership “was expressly told they couldn’t repossess the car," prosecutors said.
According to authorities, Hadad followed the customer in his vehicle. When the victim reached a red light, “Hadad, whom the victim had never met before, got out of the black BMW in the middle of the intersection and approached the victim’s Honda, ripping off the paper temporary tag and aggressively yelling at the victim to get out of the car," prosecutors said.
“The victim was able to get away when the light turned green, but Hadad eventually caught up to the victim” and “continued aggressively screaming for the victim to get out of the car.”
“Hadad lifted his shirt to reveal that he had a gun holstered in his waistband, which led the victim to surrender his keys,” authorities stated.
The customer called Miami-Dade police who arrested Hadad. Hadad is set to be sentenced on January 9.
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