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Belmont Carjacker Foiled By Empty Gas Tank

BELMONT (CBS/AP) -- A man who carjacked a vehicle in Belmont was arrested while he was sitting in the car after it ran out of gas about eight miles away, according to prosecutors.

Twenty-year-old Stephan Allen, of Rohnert Park, pleaded not guilty Thursday to a felony carjacking charge.

He's accused of stealing a Honda Civic from the parking lot of a pizzeria Monday evening after a woman and her 5-year-old daughter got out. Police said Allen pushed the woman out of the car, but she managed to pull her daughter from the backseat before he drove away.

The mother was apparently waiting for her husband to return with pizza.  No weapon was seen, and the mother and child were unhurt.

The California Highway Patrol arrested Allen about two hours later after the car ran out of gas on a highway overpass in Burlingame. Troopers did not release details of the arrest.

Allen was being held in the San Mateo County jail.

(Copyright 2011 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services may have contributed to this report.)

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