Photo: journal-news.com
A 10-year-old girl escaped her would-be kidnapper when her younger brother, only 8, put himself in harm’s way to rescue her from a moving car, with the carjacker still at the wheel.
It happened when the kids’ great-grandmother, Nita Coburn, pulled in at the Atrium Medical Center in Middletown, Ohio, to drop off a relative at the emergency room. Because she was in a hurry, she left the car unlocked and the engine running, assuming that no one would dare to steal her vehicle right from outside a hospital.
The kids, Chance and Skylar, were in the backseat. Neither the location or the car or the kids’ presence inside worked to deter the opportunistic carjacker. Coburn tells GMA that she heard the children scream and she ran outside to see what was happening.
To her shock, as she came out of the hospital, she saw her car speeding off. Realizing that the kids were still inside, she rushed after it and grabbed onto the door on the driver’s side, managing to open it and get a more secure hold. Meanwhile, as CCTV released by the police shows (and also included in the video available at the bottom of the page), Chance managed to roll out of the speeding vehicle, dragging Skylar with him.
Coburn didn’t have much luck holding back the thief – or the car. She held on to it for a while, until she was forced to let go because of the pain she was in. She received minor injuries and will be ok. On the other side of the car, the kids had escaped unharmed, but she didn’t know it just yet.
“All I could see was my great-grandbabies in the back seat. ... Every time I think about it I want to cry,” Coburn says. “It’s the most morbid feeling in the world. No one needs to feel that fear.”
Skylar recalls that the carjacker kept a tight grip on her hoodie as Chance was trying to pull her out. The boy says he could only think of getting out of the car as quickly as possible, even if that meant hurting himself in the process. “I was acting in the moment because I didn’t want my sister to get hurt,” Chance explains.
Police saw the speeding car (now great-grandma- and kid-free) and pulled it over farther down the road. They arrested Dalvir Singh, a 24-year-old heroin addict, and charged him with 2 counts of kidnapping, felonious assault and grand theft. He is due in court on May 3.
The kids, Chance and Skylar, were in the backseat. Neither the location or the car or the kids’ presence inside worked to deter the opportunistic carjacker. Coburn tells GMA that she heard the children scream and she ran outside to see what was happening.
To her shock, as she came out of the hospital, she saw her car speeding off. Realizing that the kids were still inside, she rushed after it and grabbed onto the door on the driver’s side, managing to open it and get a more secure hold. Meanwhile, as CCTV released by the police shows (and also included in the video available at the bottom of the page), Chance managed to roll out of the speeding vehicle, dragging Skylar with him.
Coburn didn’t have much luck holding back the thief – or the car. She held on to it for a while, until she was forced to let go because of the pain she was in. She received minor injuries and will be ok. On the other side of the car, the kids had escaped unharmed, but she didn’t know it just yet.
“All I could see was my great-grandbabies in the back seat. ... Every time I think about it I want to cry,” Coburn says. “It’s the most morbid feeling in the world. No one needs to feel that fear.”
Skylar recalls that the carjacker kept a tight grip on her hoodie as Chance was trying to pull her out. The boy says he could only think of getting out of the car as quickly as possible, even if that meant hurting himself in the process. “I was acting in the moment because I didn’t want my sister to get hurt,” Chance explains.
Police saw the speeding car (now great-grandma- and kid-free) and pulled it over farther down the road. They arrested Dalvir Singh, a 24-year-old heroin addict, and charged him with 2 counts of kidnapping, felonious assault and grand theft. He is due in court on May 3.
Video shows young siblings’ close call with suspected carjacker. @ErielleReshef has more on their jaw-dropping escape. pic.twitter.com/CsrjIwk6FN
— Good Morning America (@GMA) April 29, 2019
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