A California couple who were chased at gunpoint during a carjacking while on vacation in Hawaii have revealed chilling new details of the attack.
Alex and Justina Lucero were in Maui for a work trip and decided to take advantage of their day off, June 4, to explore the island.
They ventured through Paia and Hana when things took a turn for the worse and a masked gunman seized their rental car.
The carjacker proceeded to chase the couple to Haleakalā while shooting at them and forcing them to camp out for the night.
“We almost didn’t make it home and our lives changed forever after what happened,” Justina said. KHON2.
Alex (left) and Justina (right) Lucero were exploring Maui when a masked gunman took over their rental car and chased them to Haleakalā.
The Luceros were driving a rented silver Ford Mustang on the Kaupō side of Haleakalā on the advice of a local.
“And we’re lucky we got through it together, but this could have happened in so many other ways.”
The Luceros were driving a rented silver Ford Mustang on the Kaupō side of Haleakalā when they noticed a road closed sign off to the side.
“That same day, a neighbour had told us: ‘Yes, you can go through it completely. It used to be closed, but it’s not anymore’. So we didn’t suspect anything about it,” said Justina.
“And they told us that, you know, the locals there will use the same path, and if they come up behind you, just step aside and let them pass, because they’re not going to see the same scenery as you.”
Shortly after passing the road closed sign, they noticed a truck behind them and Alex stopped to signal the other vehicle to pass them.
As they went around a blind bend, the truck headed towards them and blocked the road so they couldn’t get through.
“(The driver) jumps out and comes straight at us with the gun and stops us in the middle of the street,” Justina said.
The couple was in Maui on a work trip and decided to take advantage of their day off, June 4, to explore the island.
Alex waved down another vehicle to pass them, but as they were rounding a blind bend, the truck pulled out in front of them and blocked their path.
Alex told the local news station that his attacker was wearing a mask, a hood and a sweatshirt.
‘(He ordered us) to leave all valuables, leave the keys… to empty our pockets, leave everything in the car and start walking in that direction now,’ Alex said.
The couple complied and began walking towards Hana when they heard the car start.
“He was coming towards us now, so we went very, very quickly from walking fast to running down that ravine,” Alex said.
The Luceros made a split-second decision to run towards the volcano and find a place to hide while the gunman chased them.
“He’s screaming for them to show us. ‘Yeah, I’ll find them. I’ll find them.’ And he, at one point, counts down from, I don’t know if it was to 10 or I heard it to five. And at the end, he fired the gun,” Alex said.
A masked gunman hijacked their car and then chased them into the volcano while shooting at them.
As night approached, the couple hiked higher toward the summit district, where temperatures are at least 20 degrees cooler than at sea level.
“At that moment we knew he was loaded. We knew he was serious,” Justina said.
As the couple sought safety, they observed a white multi-passenger van with a taxi sign joining their hunter.
“They met up. They came looking for us, they had some sort of interaction, this vehicle and our rental car, and at that point we knew this guy was trying to find us,” Alex said.
Justina said they were overwhelmed by “that feeling of being persecuted and not knowing the extent of, you know, what they would do, what they wanted and who they had available to help.”
As dusk approached, the couple hiked higher into the summit district, where temperatures are at least 20 degrees colder than at sea level and often drop below freezing.
By dawn, the Luceros were unsure of who they could trust as they searched for help.
The tourist helicopters flew past without noticing them and they became concerned that two men they saw on horseback might have been helping their attacker.
They finally managed to call a ranger and their nightmare came to an end.
The Maui Police Department arrested Christopher Helmer (pictured) in connection with the attack on Luceros.
“At that point, I had a suspect in mind that fit the profile, that fit the heinous act, because he’s a threat, that’s what he said,” Alex said.
Four days later, the Maui Police Department arrested Christopher Helmer on warrants for a separate kidnapping and a terroristic threat from May, it was reported. Hawaii News Now.
“At the time of his arrest, Helmer was driving the stolen Mustang and had a loaded firearm. Following his arrest, further investigation resulted in the recovery of additional evidence linking him to the robbery and the recovery of the Tacoma, which turned out to be a stolen vehicle,” Maui police said.
On June 21, a grand jury indicted Helmer on charges of first-degree robbery, firearms possession, drug possession, and driving a stolen vehicle. He was held on $500,000 bail and remains in police custody.