Carjacker Threatens Teen Girl, Gets Big Surprise

Imama Muratab says she had to protect her siblings
By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 24, 2019 9:55 AM CST
Updated Dec 28, 2019 2:30 PM CST

That's not dad—it's a carjacker. And we're in serious trouble. That was a 16-year-old girl's first thought when a carjacker hopped into the family SUV in Chicago on Sunday night, CBS Chicago reports. The girl, Imama Muratab, her 10-year-old brother, and 5-year-old sister were all resting in the Toyota Highlander while their dad got pizza at Domino's. "This dude just jumps in the car and he looks back and I realize it's not my dad, so I go, 'Who are you,'" Imama tells ABC News. "I was just scared for my life, I didn't know what to do." She says he drove off fast "in a zig-zag pattern" as she asked who he was, and he made a blunt promise: "Get out or I'm going to shoot you."

"No, I can't," she says she told him. "There's a baby in there, and my other sibling is in there, too." That's when it hit her: fight back. So Imama tried strangling him from the back seat while her little brother Hasnain apparently thwacked him with an iPad. She managed to restrain the carjacker while dialing 911 on her dad's phone, but the guy jumped out and hopped in a Camry that had initially dropped him off. A good Samaritan rushed over to the SUV, per NBC Chicago, and none of the kids were hurt. Police soon spotted the Camry and arrested four of five people in car—one ran away—who were charged with misdemeanors of criminal trespass to vehicle. Says Imama: "I mean, it all feels like a dream." (More carjacking stories.)

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