ABBEVILLE, La. (KLFY) – A woman was held at gunpoint in an attempted carjacking. The suspect, a 17-year-old male who police say has attempted armed robbery before. The victim speaks exclusively with says until the minor is held in custody, she will not feel safe.

Imagine getting in your car, getting ready to back up, only to be met with a knock and see a gun pointed at you. Well, for one resident here at the Stone Bridge Apartments, that's their reality when a 17-year-old tried to steal their car. The victim, an Abbeville who wished to remain anonymous says she was on her way to the emergency room when a 17-year-old male attempted to steal her vehicle. She says while pointing a gun at her window, he told her he wanted her car. "When I looked, I saw the barrel." She says "I didn't know what to do. I said, are you going to kill me and he said, no, but he wanted the car."

The victim says in a split second, she decided to press her gas and speed off hoping he did not shoot at her. She says when she got out of her apartment complex, she called police. It was his second attempt at stealing a car that night, so police were able to track the teen and arrest him.

"I was told that he was going to be held in custody. So Saturday that afternoon, I called the police station only to find out that he was released to the custody of his mother."

Because the 17-year-old is still a minor, his identity and charges have not been released. He is also not able to go to a juvenile facility, and instead has been released to the custody of his mother who lives in Metairie. Abbeville Police Chief Mike Hardy says it's a challenge when 17-year-olds are arrested for crimes and there's nowhere to place them.

Hardy says "If the parish jail want housed them right now because they don't have room and they don't have the space for 17-year-olds, you have to come up with other ideas." He says at the moment "all his department can do is still release them to their parents."

The victim says she was told the minor would have to turn himself in, however when he didn't, she says she started to "freakout." She says since the crime, she hasn't been able to eat, sleep, or leave her apartment at night. "He's not under house arrest, he's unsupervised, he doesn't have an ankle bracelet. What's the certainty that he's going to stay in Jefferson Parish?""

She says a solution should be making parents responsible for the action of their minors.

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