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A would-be robber attempted to carjack a woman at West Towne Mall Friday afternoon but couldn't figure out how to operate her vehicle, Madison Police said.

The victim, a 69-year-old woman, had been getting out of her car in the parking lot at about 1 p.m. when a man came up from behind and demanded her keys and phone, Lt. Scott Kleinfeldt said.

The two struggled before the man knocked the victim to the ground and took her keys, Kleinfeldt said.

When the man couldn't figure out how to operate the vehicle, he got out and left in a vehicle that had been stolen from Warner Park Thursday night, Kleinfeldt said.

The man was described as between 18 and 24 years old, black, 6 feet 5 inches tall with a thin build and wearing black cargo pants and a black hooded sweatshirt.

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