Carjacking Suspect Held On $500K Bail
PLYMOUTH (CBS) -- A man police say stole an elderly woman's car and crashed it into a Taunton home was arraigned Tuesday.
Anthony Loto, 26, of East Bridgewater was charged with carjacking, unarmed robbery, assault and battery on a person over 60, failure to stop for police, negligent operation, and resisting arrest.
Loto was ordered held on $500,000 bail and is currently undergoing a mental evaluation, because his father fears he may be a risk to himself. Loto's defense attorney says he just left a psychiatric and drug treatment center Monday.
Prosecutors asked for Loto to be held on $100,000 bail, but the judge set it higher because of Loto's nine-page record.
That's a relief to Robert Webb and his wife--the couple whose car Loto is accused of stealing.
Webb told WBZ-TV's Anna Meiler that his wife is still shaken up after Monday's events.
"She didn't sleep too good last night, of course," Webb said.
Around 1:45 p.m. on Monday, police say, Loto approached Webb's wife in her car in the parking lot of a Plymouth Stop & Shop. Webb said he was inside buying groceries when Loto tricked his wife into getting out of the car.
"He walked up to the car, and he said to her, 'Your husband's in there, he's having an emergency,'" Webb said. "I've had two heart attacks. She thought I was having another one, so she took the keys out of the car, opened the passenger door to get out, and as soon as she got out, that's when he grabbed her."
Police said Loto fled northbound on Route 3A, Route 3 and then continued onto Route 44 in Middleboro. Cell phone video taken during the chase shows the stolen car speeding down the street and avoiding stop sticks placed by officers.
"He's nuts," Webb said. "I mean, the way he was driving, the way he grabbed my wife and stuff. Something should happen to him."
The pursuit continued into Taunton where police say Loto lost control of the car and struck a home at the intersection of South Preicent and Seekal Streets.
It was an upsetting ordeal for Webb, who spent more than 30 years as a Plymouth Police officer.
"It was very upsetting because I dealt with it for 32 years, and now it hits home," he said.
Loto was treated for minor injuries, but nobody else was hurt--and that's what Webb says matters most.
"I'm just thankful none of the officers were hurt, she wasn't hurt, nobody was hit," Webb said.
