Two men get 10-year sentences for carjacking, high-speed chase

‘You stole pieces of my life,’ victim says at court hearing.

Two Cobb County men convicted in a 2019 carjacking that led to a 110-mph police chase have been sentenced to a decade in jail, according to court records.

Dijour Ross, 21, was sentenced Wednesday to 10 years in prison followed by 10 years of supervised release, Cobb District Attorney Flynn D. Broady said. Ross was found guilty of armed robbery and hijacking on May 27.

Ross’ conviction matches that of his co-defendant, 23-year-old Francisco Cruz of Marietta, who pleaded guilty to identical charges, court records show. Cruz also was sentenced to 10 years in prison followed by 10 years of supervised release.

Cobb Assistant District Attorney John Overcocker, who prosecuted the case, commended the carjacking victim’s bravery at trial.

“I hope that the verdict and this sentence help her as she heals,” he said.

At Ross’ sentencing hearing, the woman described how the ordeal left a lasting imprint on her life, according to the DA’S office.

“I’m a real estate broker, cancer survivor and a mother of a teen. That’s who you carjacked and robbed that day,” she said. “I’ve had to move four times since the incident because I don’t feel safe. You didn’t just take a car; you stole pieces of my life.”

The incident took place just before 12:30 a.m. on May 30, 2019. Cruz and Ross held up the woman in the parking lot of her mother’s apartment complex, forcing her out of her Mercedes-benz at gunpoint and telling her to leave her cellphone in the car.

When the woman was able to get in touch with police, she used the “Find My iphone” feature to locate Ross and Cruz as they drove away in her car, according to an arrest warrant. Officers located the Mercedes, but Cruz and Ross refused to stop, leading officers on a chase that topped 110 mph on surface streets, including South Fairground Street and South Marietta Parkway.

The chase ended when the suspects crashed into a tree near Stephens Street and South Marietta Parkway, totaling the car.

Cruz already has been transferred to state prison. Ross remains in the Cobb detention center awaiting transfer.

Dijour Ross (left) and Francisco Cruz were sentenced in the 2019 carjacking.