LITTLETON, Colo. — Police have identified a man they say forced a 63-year-old woman out of her minivan inside a Littleton car wash and then stole the vehicle on Jan. 28.
According to a release from the Littleton Police Department (LPD), the woman said she drove into the automatic wash bay at the Atlantis Car Wash on South Federal Circle at around 12:15 p.m.
She put her vehicle in park, LPD said, which automatically unlocked all of its doors.
Police said as soon as the wash cycle started and the windshield was obscured, the suspect quickly walked up to the driver's door and opened it.
That suspect has since been identified as Phillip Michael Dent, 51, police said.
Police said Dent grabbed the woman's arm and yelled for her to get out of the car. She resisted and tried to fight him off, according to police, but he grabbed her by the neck, bit her, then pulled her from the minivan and threw her to the ground before taking off in the vehicle.
The woman suffered minor injuries, according to police.
LPD said Dent is 5 feet 9 inches tall, 165 pounds, with short brown hair and green eyes.
Dent is a transient and may be in the Littleton/Lakewood area, according to police.
Police said a warrant has been issued for Dent's arrest.
The vehicle is described as a gray 2011 Toyota Sienna with a "Practice Aloha" sticker in the rear window. It has a South Dakota license plate with the number 1X7015, according to police.
Anyone with information regarding Dent's whereabouts is asked to call Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720-913-7867.
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