Line Feed from PDF417 barcode scan causes Chrome to open the download tab

I need to allow a user to scan their drivers license and get the information from it replacing CR and LF characters with \n and \r. The problem comes when Chrome sees the LF it opens the downloads tab. I am trying to use jQuery to see and process these control characters, so far to no avail. Anyone have any ideas?? I have tried e.preventDefault(); on the keydown event of the textbox that the information is being scanned into, but this does not work.