JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A 72-year-old woman is speaking out about the moment she was carjacked, leading to a high-speed chase that shut down I-95 Tuesday and ended with the suspect dead.
The carjacking incident had taken place in Duval County around 11:20 a.m. Tuesday. The 72-year-old woman and grandmother of 6, who has asked we don’t show her face or name her, says she was at a gas station at the corner of W. 21 St. and N. Main St. pumping gas when a man came up asking for a drink.
She went to her trunk to get a bottle of water, it was then that things took a turn.
“I did not say verbally to get in my car, he just got in by the door being open. I had just pumped gas. He just popped the back door open and got in," the carjacking victim said.
The man closed himself in the backseat and asked for a ride to Walmart. The woman felt she couldn’t run away because she has bad knees. She also wanted to help the man, who claimed he was sick.
“Even if I wanted to run I can't run because my knees are bad. And I felt like he would’ve, you know, try to get the keys from me. I thought it was safer to go and try to take him where he wanted to go," the carjacking victim said.
She started the drive, but less than four miles later when they pulled up to a stop sign, he became aggressive, jumping from the backseat to the front seat.
"He was sitting in the back seat, therefore he overcame me over the backseat. Like that. 'Get out the car, get out the car'. So I got a car, but I fell on the pavement," the carjacking victim said.
She watched her car disappear before stopping a woman walking nearby and using her phone to call the police.
Later that day, she learned the man had led police on a high-speed chase. The suspect was pursued through St. Johns County and into Flagler County. During the high-speed chase, the suspect crashed into the back of a semitrailer and died at the scene. The Florida Highway Patrol is investigating.
“It made me feel real bad. And the first thing I say, I have seen this on TV, I heard that. And here I am, it come to me," the carjacking victim said.
The car is a total loss, and the woman is now relying on family to get back and forth to work.
First Coast News still has not received the identity of the carjacker, the Florida Highway Patrol is investigating.
The Department of State has a list of tips geared at helping car owners avoid carjacking.
First, stay alert. If you see a suspicious person coming towards you, lock your doors, close your windows and if needed drive off to a safe location.
If someone gets in your car like what happened to this woman, give up the vehicle freely and get to a safe location.