'Crazy to see': Baltimore man describes watching stolen car involved in deadly crash, building collapse
BALTIMORE -- Stefan Johnson said he first spotted his stolen car watching news coverage of a deadly crash and building collapse on WJZ last month.
Johnson, who told WJZ in an exclusive interview, that he works for Door Dash where he needs his car to make money.
"I Door Dash every day for work so missing my car is a big part of my finances," Johnson said.
Johnson said he was doing a few things in his house, and when he came back out, his Hyundai Sonata was gone.
"I came back out and it was gone, right where I parked it, right in front of the house," Johnson said.
Johnson's car was used on February 8 in a pursuit which ultimately ended with a crash into a building on North Avenue in East Baltimore.
Alfred Fincher, a 54-year-old, was standing at the scene of the crash when he was struck by the car and then the building collapsed on him, according to police.
He died at the scene.
Shawn Lee Brunson, 33, was charged with car theft and criminally negligent vehicular manslaughter.
The Maryland Office of Attorney General released the shocking footage of the deadly crash and building collapse.
Johnson said a family member alerted him of his car that was shown on TV and social media.
"A family member had actually let me know that they had noticed or recognized my car on the news, after seeing the crash and the incident it was involved in," Johnson said. "That's when I found out that my car had been involved in an accident or that it was stolen."
Johnson said his car was locked outside of his home in Northeast Baltimore.
He said he immediately called police who said things like this happen all the time.
Initially, they thought his car could have been repossessed or that someone just took it for a joy ride and that it would turn up in a couple of days.
"It was kind of surreal considering that it was my car involved," Johnson said. "I feel bad for the family involved, for the person that died. It was crazy to see. I just couldn't believe it that it had been my car."
For days after the deadly crash, Johnson called impound lots with no response and heard nothing from police until just two days ago, telling him that the suspect would be indicted.
The good news for Johnson is that his insurance company got hold of the video of the crash to compensate the total loss of his car.
Johnson believes he's one of many victims of the viral TikTok trend of people stealing Kia's and Hyundai's without needing a key.
"Yeah I'm almost certain," Johnson said. "My car was locked. I had both keys. There's no other way to get in my car, so that's a problem that needs to be addressed. It's just a sad situation for anybody involved, especially when a death is involved like it was."