- NEWS RELEASE -

Date: March 20, 2006

Subject: Carjacking accomplice gets 12 years in prison

A 19-year old who worked with two other teenagers to carjack a woman at gunpoint was sentenced to 12 years in prison on March 20. Jeffrey L. Chapman, of Kansas City, received the sentence in Platte County Circuit Court for a March 2004 robbery that took place in the parking lot of a Kansas City office supply store.

Platte County Prosecutor Eric Zahnd said, “Sending a teenager to the state penitentiary is never enjoyable, but this young man has to suffer the consequences for participating in a dangerous carjacking. An innocent woman had a gun stuck in her face and her car stolen, and everyone involved must be brought to justice.”

Chapman, Jonathan S. McElwee, of Riverside, and another teenager used a stolen handgun to steal a woman’s purse and car on March 18, 2004 in the parking lot of the OfficeMax located in the Barrywoods shopping center near I-29 and Barry Road. McElwee was 18 at the time of the robbery.

According to Zahnd, Chapman approached the 56-year-old woman as she getting into her car after leaving the store at about 8:00 p.m. Chapman had earlier planned with McElwee and another teen to find a woman and take her car.

Chapman asked the victim for directions to a nearby shopping mall. As she got out of her car to give the directions, McElwee pointed a handgun at her and said, “Don’t make me use this on you. C’mon, give me your keys.”

The victim gave her keys to McElwee, who then said, “Give me your purse and all your money.” The victim threw her purse at McElwee and ran screaming back into the store.

Chapman, McElwee, and the other teen escaped in the victim’s car. They were arrested two days later after being stopped for speeding in Livingston County. When police searched the car, they found a loaded .40 caliber pistol. Zahnd said McElwee had stolen the gun from a Platte County residence on March 18.

Chapman pled guilty to first degree robbery on October 7, 2004. His sentencing was delayed as psychiatrists assessed his mental status.

During the sentencing hearing, Chapman’s attorney made an impassioned plea for the Court to place Chapman on probation. Several of Chapman’s family members also attended the hearing and were visibly shaken by the Court’s prison sentence. Chapman’s attorney and a psychiatrist described his client as an immature young man who had made a mistake because he wanted to fit in.

Zahnd said, “I hope this case sends a message to every teenager. Once you cross the line into violent crime your parents and your attorney cannot save you. Think twice before you do something to ruin your life.”

Chapman is the second of the three teenagers involved in the carjacking to be sentenced for the crime. McElwee was sentenced November 18, 2004 to 20 years in prison for first degree robbery and armed criminal action. The third teen’s case is still pending.

The case was investigated by the Kansas City Police Department’s Robbery Unit and the Livingston County Sheriff’s Department. It was prosecuted by First Assistant Prosecutor Mark Gibson.