Thieves foiled by manual transmission

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ORLANDO, Fla., Jan. 29 (UPI) -- A Florida man said a pair of attempted carjackers fled on foot when they were unable to work the manual transmission on his Corvette.

Randolph Bean, 51, said he was in his 2002 Corvette after 11 p.m. outside the Orlando Regional Medical Center when two men approached the vehicle, pointed a gun at him and forced him to the ground, WOFL-TV, Orlando, reported Tuesday.

Bean said the thieves soon demanded to know how to work the vehicle.

"They apparently couldn't start it. I had to tell him four different times to push in the clutch, because it's a standard transmission," he said. "My first thought was I guess we don't have driver's ed in school anymore because no one knows how to drive a stick. And my second thing was, don't shoot me because you can't start the car. I'm trying to help you out here. You know. Thankfully they didn't."

Police were unable to locate the suspects, who fled on foot with Bean's phone, keys and wallet.