A Beaumont man was arrested in Joshua Tree Monday afternoon, accused of carjacking a car in the Indian Cove area of Twentynine Palms. According to a Sheriff’s report, an unidentified woman was driving her car westbound on the highway just west of Indian Cove about 5 p.m. when Nicholas Boland, 28, jumped out in front of her. In a panic, the woman tried to lock her car doors, but instead hit the unlock button. Boland got into her car, took her phone, and told her to drive, saying that he was being chased by men who wanted to kill him. Those men, it later turned out, were Sheriff Deputies who had attempted to arrest Boland on a no-bail warrant from Riverside County. The woman tried to stop at the Sheriff’s Department but Boland made her continue. She later told deputies he kept reaching into his pockets, she thought he had a weapon and feared for her life if she didn’t do as he said. Finally, at the Valero station in Joshua Tree, Boland told her to pull over and he got out of the vehicle. Deputies located Nicholas Boland about 5:45 p.m. at the gas station where he was arrested for investigation of carjacking. Boland was booked into the West Valley Detention Center with his bail set at $250,000. No weapon was found on him when he was arrested.
