Phenix City mom says she tried to help man — then he hijacked her car with son inside

A Phenix City mother said she was acting as a Christian when she stopped to help a bearded man who fell from an SUV Wednesday in front of her Honda on Airport Thruway.

Instead of seeking help, Grant Chastain jumped into her car and sped away with her 4-year-old son, Ke’Eric Jackson, strapped in a car seat, police said. Hijacking the car led to a high-speed police chase that ended 40 miles later in LaGrange when the Georgia State Patrol arrested him in a second stolen patrol vehicle.

“I couldn’t just go,” Shi’Kisha L. Staton said. “It’s a lesson learned.”

Chastain, 23, of Atlanta pleaded not guilty to two counts of hijacking a motor vehicle, one count of kidnapping and possession of cocaine during a 2 p.m. hearing in Recorder’s Court. Judge Julius Hunter ordered Chastain held without bond on the serious charges and bound them over to Muscogee Superior Court.

Police Officer Andrew Kern told the court that Chastain left the Columbus Metropolitan Airport where he worked before he attempted to hijack a Kia SUV but was unsuccessful. Staton didn’t know why the Kia was driving at a high rate of speed until she came to court.

With the man wearing a safety vest, Staton thought the man worked for the state as she stopped on Airport Thruway in front of Bojangles restaurant. “I did not leave my child in the car,” she said outside the courtroom. “I didn’t go into Bojangles.”

After falling from the SUV, Chastain and Staton were moving toward each other in the street. “I actually stood by my right front driver side headlight,“ she said. “He was actually coming toward me. He ran and got into my car. My son was strapped in. I was not going to leave my son in the highway.”

She said the man was crying.

“He was crying to be honest,” she said.

Officer Emmanuel Rosado said police starting searching for Staton’s 2000 gray Honda Accord. As the Honda headed north on Interstate 185, Rosado said Harris County sheriff’s deputies had located the vehicle. Officers were able to get the Honda stopped after it rammed a Harris County sheriff pickup. The child was found in the back seat where he complained of shoulder and stomach pains.

That’s when Chastain ran from the car and jumped into a patrol vehicle and fled from officers and again fled. Chastain was taken into custody by the state troopers on I-85 in Troup County.

Rosado said it appeared that Chastain may have been under the influence of something during the incident. Cocaine was found in the back of the patrol car.

This story was originally published August 30, 2018 at 12:00 AM.