A carjacker jumped out of a cargo space as a woman was driving Monday, stole her SUV and led a Lyft driver who rescued her on a chase, Atlanta police said.
Martha Cargill said she had just left her Decatur home and dropped her daughter off at school when she ran into traffic on Estoria Street near the Krog Street Tunnel.
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
“I was inching forward,” Cargill told Channel 2 Action News. “All of a sudden, somebody popped out” of the back seat and demanded she “get out of the car.”
She panicked.
“I didn’t know what to do,” Cargill said.
She fell out of her Toyota RAV with the vehicle still running. The carjacker got behind the wheel.
“I said, ‘Somebody help! Somebody is hijacking my car,’” she said.
Lyft driver Keysha Richardson told Channel 2 she saw what happened and pulled over to help.
“I am telling her, ‘Hey. Just jump in my car and I am going to help you,’” Richardson said.
When Cargill got in the car, Richardson took off after the carjacker, according to Channel 2. Cargill recorded the chase on a cellphone.
“The witness attempted to block the male from leaving the scene, but the male reversed into oncoming traffic and drove westbound on Wylie Street,” police said in a statement. “As the suspect fled the scene, the witness continued to follow the vehicle but lost sight soon after entering southwest Atlanta.”
Police have not said how the man got in the SUV in the first place.
VIEW: Map of crime in metro Atlanta
NEW: Join the discussion at the AJC's Crime & Safety Facebook group
Know what's really going on with crime and public safety in your metro Atlanta community, including breaking news, trial coverage, trends and the latest on unsolved cases. Sign up for the AJC's crime and safety newsletter delivered weekly to your inbox.
About the Author
