Family members of the carjacking victim say every morning he sits outside of the auto repair shop where he works, reads the newspaper and waits for the business to open.
He was doing just that on Tuesday, when his routine was violently interrupted when he answered a tap on his car window.
It happened quickly on the corner of Sanford Street and Brunswick Avenue. A man shot 61 year old Archie Vereen in the head, threw him in the trunk of his own car and kidnapped him.
"And I just started screaming, I just started screaming because I just could not imagine," said Margaret Williams, the victim's sister.
Someone on the street saw the incident and called Trenton Police.
Investigators say the armed carjacker drove around with Vereen in the trunk for several hours.
The victim's family including his sister and brother, received word that he was dead.
"Good guy, didn't bother nobody, very good guy, you know what I mean? It was just a shame," said Joe Vereen.
Police say the kidnapper ditched the car almost 30 miles away in the parking lot of the Moorestown Mall in Burlington County, but what he didn't know was that Vereen was still alive.
Critically injured, Vereen kicked out the back seat of his car and crawled out. A shopper spotted him and called for help.
"My daughter called me and she said, 'Mommy we found him. They found him, and he's alive.' And I was just thankful," said Margaret.
Vereen is recovering in the hospital while police search for his kidnapper.
"I think they are really a sociopath, a sick, sick person with no feelings," said Margaret.
Anyone with information about this crime is asked to call Trenton Police Investigators at 609-989-4155 or Trenton Crime Stoppers at 609-278-8477.
