A Chicago teenager stated her survival instincts took over when she and her younger siblings were fighting off a carjacker who tried to steal their family’s vehicle and allegedly threatened to shoot them if they rejected to get out.
“This dude just jumps in the vehicle and he looks back and I realize it’s not my dad, so I go, ‘Who are you,'” stated 16-year-old Imama in an interview with ABC’s Chicago station WLS. “I was just scared for my life, I didn’t know what to do.”
“And he starts driving really fast, going in like a zig-zag pattern. … “I started shouting, I’m like ‘Who are you?’ And he goes, ‘Get out or I’m going to shoot you.”
The terrifying ordeal open out on Chicago’s north side at around 11:20 p.m. Sunday while Imama, her 10-year-old brother and their 5-year-old sister were waiting for their father to get back from grabbing dinner.
That’s when a male suspect reportedly jumped inside and sped off.
“I was just scared for my life, I didn’t know what to do,” Imama stated.
“I was in panic mode, like, I wanted to cry but I knew I had to do something that can help,” she said.
Imama and her brother, Hasnain, stated they fought off the carjacker by pretending to adhere to his demands. They stated they attacked him from the backseat of the Toyota Highlander as soon as they observed a chance.
“I said, ‘I’ll get out, fine,’ and then I started hitting him with the iPad,” Hasnain informed WLS.
“My phone was dead so I couldn’t dial 911,” Imama stated. “I see my dad’s phone in the passenger seat so I, like, try to strangle the dude from the back because I was right behind him.”
She stated she managed to dial 911 from her father’s phone while restraining the carjacker, who ultimately jumped out of the vehicle and fled the scene. She stated he got into a vehicle with multiple individuals inside.
Police recovered the abandoned SUV some blocks away from where it was stolen. The children were not harmed and the Chicago Police Department stated it has identified four suspects.
The suspects, Steffy Lagunas, 19, Ralph Enriquez, 22, Kaily Lagunas, 19, and a 16-year-old boy, have been charged with one misdemeanor count of criminal trespass to automobiles.
