Las Vegas man sentenced in carjacking case

A Las Vegas man who shocked an exchange student with a stun gun and stole her car was sentenced Tuesday to 15 years in prison, according to the U.S. attorney’s office in Nevada.

Keith Michael Costa, 35, pleaded guilty on March 20 to one count of carjacking resulting in injury and one count of felon possessing a firearm.

Costa was at an apartment complex office in July 2013, court records show, when he demanded a woman’s car keys. When she said no, Costa shoved her to the ground and pulled out a stun gun, which he used to shock her as many as eight times.

Costa, still without the woman’s keys, went to her car to see if they were there. When he realized they weren’t, he chased her back into the office and used the stun gun on her over and over until she gave him the keys, the attorney’s office said.

After Costa left in her car, the woman, an exchange student from Thailand, was treated at the hospital for injuries from the attack.

Three weeks later, Las Vegas police tried to pull Costa over, but he fled and started a high-speed car chase that included driving the wrong direction on roads, driving over medians and reaching speeds of nearly 150 mph before getting away, the attorney’s office said. At one point in the chase, he almost hit a woman pushing a baby stroller.

When police tracked him down again two days later at a motel, he put up a fight during the arrest and tried to grab a gun from his pants. Because he had been previously convicted of fraud in Nevada, he was not allowed to carry the gun.

Costa pleaded guilty in March to both counts. After his prison sentence, the attorney’s office said, he will have five years of supervised release.

Contact reporter Annalise Porter at aporter@reviwjournal.com or 702-383-0391.