EXCLUSIVE: Career criminal sister of Parkland shooter Nikolas Cruz faces LIFE in prison after 22 arrests, 16 felony convictions and a recent attack on a 72-year-old woman during a carjacking

The career criminal sister of Parkland shooter Nikolas Cruz faces life imprisonment for brutally targeting an elderly woman in an alleged carjacking, DailyMail.com can exclusively reveal.

Danielle Woodard, the daughter of Cruz's biological mom Brenda Woodard, jumped into the victim's Honda while she donated items at a Goodwill trailer, according to a Miami police report.

The 72-year-old climbed back into the passenger side to try to stop Danielle, 34, driving away but was hurled from the vehicle as it slammed into a curb, suffering head and arm injuries.

A younger man who was accompanying the elderly lady tried to wrench open the driver's door and ended up clinging to the car as the thief swerved around the parking lot.

He eventually leapt clear, suffering injuries to his hands, knees and feet, as Danielle left the plaza only to slam the stolen sedan into nearby trees.

Danielle Woodard, the daughter of Nikolas Cruz's biological mom Brenda Woodard, faces life in prison for targeting an elderly woman

Danielle and Nikolas share the same mother but grew up separately and have reportedly never met, nor spoken

According to the paperwork obtained by DailyMail.com, the mother-of-two tried to flee the January 2020 incident when cops arrived but was arrested on felony carjacking and aggravated battery charges.

In 2019 DailyMail.com tracked down biological mother Brenda Woodard, ad 65-year-old ex-con, to a federal housing complex in Dania, Florida where she refused to discuss her son's gun rampage

Like her warped younger brother Nikolas, 22 - who three years ago killed 17 students and staff at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School – Danielle is currently behind bars awaiting trial.

The thuggish redhead, whose rap sheet includes 22 arrests and 16 felony convictions, is classified as a habitual violent offender and faces a mandatory life sentence if convicted next month.

Although Danielle and Nikolas share the same mother they grew up separately and have reportedly never met, nor spoken.

Crack-smoking felon Brenda Woodard gave Nikolas and younger brother Zachary up for adoption as newborn babies and the pair were raised by Lynda Cruz until she died suddenly from pneumonia in 2017, three months before the Parkland massacre.

But while the boys escaped their biological mom's malign influence, Danielle spent her youngest years bouncing between relations as Brenda served jail time for offences including battery, burglary, resisting arrest, panhandling and cocaine possession.

The little girl was stripped, beaten and forced to steal to subsidize her mother's drug habit, according to historic records unearthed by the Miami Herald.

At age 12 Danielle was taken into care and, only days after her 13th birthday, she recorded her first felony arrest for car theft.

In a chilling echo of her younger brother's killing spree, Danielle was arrested in June 2003 for taking a firearm into her school.

By then she had embarked on a life of crime that would become every bit as deplorable as her mother's, racking up arrests for battery with a deadly weapon, car theft and elder abuse.

In January 2010 Danielle earned an eight-year sentence for credit card fraud, cocaine possession and the attempted second degree murder of a police officer.

Both Brenda Woodard and her daughter Danielle have extensive rap sheets and are career criminals. As a young girl, Danielle was stripped, beaten and forced to steal to subsidize her mother's drug habit

According to the paperwork obtained by DailyMail.com, the mother-of-two tried to flee the January 2020 incident when cops arrived but was arrested on felony carjacking and aggravated battery charges

Danielle has an extensive rap sheet, including 22 arrests and 16 felony convictions, and is classified as a habitual violent offender

Court documents reveal she first stole a car then tried to evade cops as they cornered her in a dead-end.

Instead of giving herself up, Danielle reversed into officer George Guillen, pinning him against a fence and leaving him with life-threatening injuries.

She was eventually subdued with a taser and found to be in possession of cocaine and a crack pipe, according to the filings.

Released early, Danielle bit three cops in 2016 - ripping through one officer's pants - as they tried to bundle her into a squad car, earning herself another three years behind bars.

She will serve at least 15 years, a mandatory felony life sentence, if convicted of her latest offense which unfolded January 6, 2020 at a parking plaza in Miami Gardens.

According to court filings, Danielle approached the two unnamed victims and asked for a ride as they donated items while leaving their Honda Accord's engine running and doors open.

When they refused the homeless felon got in anyway.

The elderly woman 'victim 1, jumped into the passenger's side of the vehicle in an attempt to stop the defendant from driving away/stealing her vehicle,' the filing states.

'Victim 2 jumped on the driver's door also in an attempt to stop the defendant from stealing the vehicle.

'As the defendant was driving away, victim 2 advised the defendant was pushing victim 1 away and when the defendant hit the curb victim 1 was ejected from the vehicle and hit a parked vehicle/truck that was parked in the parking lot and sustained injuries to her head and right arm.

'Victim 2 continued to hang on to the vehicle. Victim 2 stated defendant tried to swerve to get him off the vehicle.'

The young male victim decided to jump clear before Danielle drove out into the street. He suffered wounds to his hands, knee and both feet, according to prosecutors.

Nikolas (pictured as a baby) and his brother Zachary were adopted by Lynda Cruz and her insurance executive husband Roger Cruz - who have both passed

Crack-smoking felon Brenda Woodard gave Nikolas and younger brother Zachary up for adoption as newborn babies

Danielle then crashed into trees and attempted to flee before she was arrested, sedated then taken into custody.

Objecting to bail, prosecutors said her 'continuous pattern of criminal behavior' meant 'there are simply no conditions of release which can protect the community' and ensure Danielle shows up to her trial next month.

Cruz, a former Stoneman Douglas student who clashed repeatedly with his adoptive mother over of his zeal for guns, was due to go on trial next month in Broward County but his case has been repeatedly pushed back.

His attorneys have signaled he would plead guilty in exchange for a life sentence but prosecutors have rejected the offer because they are seeking the death penalty.

It's likely Cruz will end up on Florida's death row unless he can convince jurors that his upbringing and personal circumstances were so pitiful and disadvantaged he should be spared.

Even though he never met his mother, Cruz's lawyers are expected to tell the court that the pain of being abandoned as a baby cast a painful shadow over his childhood.

It's also possible Woodard - who was busted for crack possession while pregnant with Cruz - could be called to testify at his sentencing in the event he's found guilty of first-degree murder.

In 2019 DailyMail.com tracked down the 65-year-old ex-con to a federal housing complex in Dania, Florida where she refused to discuss her son's gun rampage.

'You've already cooked me. You've fried me in a frying pan. I'm the one-woman wrecking team,' she raged at our reporter, before asking us to leave.