Terrifying footage captured the moment a terrified Missouri woman clung to the bonnet of her car as a thief brazenly stole it from her parking spot.
A woman left her home at the Columbia Lofts near 21st and Wyandotte in Kansas City early Monday morning to take her dog to go potty.
But within seconds, he became the target of an unexpected carjacking.
“This was a terrifying reminder that even a brief moment of perceived safety can turn dangerous,” said attorney Rich McLeod, whose office surveillance cameras captured the crime. KMBC News.
Video footage captured the unidentified woman bundled up as she walked her small black dog just meters from her apartment building.
It seemed like a normal snow day in the neighborhood before a white sedan suddenly pulled into the parking lot, stopping right in front of the woman’s moving car.
A man was captured exiting the sedan before nonchalantly beginning to walk toward the woman’s dark blue Chevy Malibu.
The woman, who appeared to be throwing something into a dumpster just four parking spaces away, realized something was wrong when she saw him get into her vehicle.
Terrifying footage captured the moment a terrified woman clung to the bonnet of her car as a thief brazenly stole it from her apartment’s parking space in Kansas City, Missouri.
As the woman kicked her dog away, a white sedan suddenly pulled into the parking lot and stopped right in front of the woman’s moving car before a man exited the vehicle and walked nonchalantly toward her Chevy Malibu. dark blue and enter.
Before the man closed the driver’s side door, the woman was captured running back to her car with her small dog running right behind her on the leash.
He quickly stood in front of the car, trying to stop the thief from leaving.
But instead he began to creep out of the parking space, causing the white sedan to drive away.
In the blink of an eye, the woman let go of the leash just as the man stepped on the accelerator and took off, all while she was clinging to the hood of her own car.
Footage captured the sound of her screams as the thief sped down the street in the opposite direction of where the white sedan had driven away, eventually stealing her car despite her efforts to stop him.
The dog was captured sitting on the street, apparently confused by what just happened.
Police told KMBC the woman was taken to the hospital for non-life-threatening injuries, but has since been released.
But the chilling speed of the crime shook the neighborhood.
Before the man closed the driver’s side door, the woman was captured running back to her car with her small dog running right behind her on the leash.
She quickly released the leash and stood in front of the car, trying to stop the thief from leaving, but he began to sneak out of the parking space.
“I estimated that, 43 seconds from start to finish,” McLeod said, referring to the security footage.
‘In and out. The car left. The owner of the car left with him. Abandoned dog,” he added. “It was shocking.”
The woman was only 25 feet away from her parked car, a distance many would consider safe.
Even though his vehicle was parked directly in front of what should be the security of his own apartment building, McLeod described the act as a clear “target of opportunity,” noting how the thief took advantage of the vulnerability of the situation. .
“We’ve all done that,” McLeod said. “We’re 25 feet from our car and we think it’s safe.”
“For the love of God, we don’t believe that someone is going to hit us by a car,” he added. “But we are wrong.”
The suspects have not yet been identified and the stolen Chevy Malibu along with the white sedan have not yet been found, but McLeod said he hopes they are caught soon.
An investigation is still underway and the public is urged to remain alert at all times – you never know how quickly something can happen before your very eyes.
Just as the thief began to leave, the white sedan he was in drove off in the opposite direction.
In the blink of an eye, the man hit the accelerator and began speeding away while the woman’s abandoned dog sat in the middle of the road, apparently confused by what was happening.
The brazen crime came just five months after a man was killed during a carjacking in Kansas City.
Michael DeHaan, 33, was pumping gas at a BP station when a man approached him and got into his car.
DeHaan fought with the man, who was later identified as Lorenzo Johnson, just seconds before he became fatal.
“The man pulled out a gun and Mike put his hands up and walked to the back of the car,” said Tammy DeHaan, Michael’s mother. KSHB News.
‘And this man came out and didn’t aim at anything but shot him… He had his car. This is the part I struggle with.”
Johnson got out of the car, shot DeHaan and ran him over with the car before taking off.
Johnson, the defendant, was charged in Jackson County Court with a host of charges, including second-degree murder and first-degree robbery.
“Motor vehicle thefts are, many times, two things,” retired FBI agent Daniel Brunner told KSHB.
The horrifying footage captured the moment the woman clung to the bonnet of her car as the man drove away; He was later taken to the hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.
The suspects have not yet been identified and the stolen Chevy Malibu along with the white sedan have not yet been found.
‘First, it is a crime of opportunity. And two, it’s a quick turnaround.’
From 2019 to 2023, the national motor vehicle theft rate increased from 199.4 incidents per 100,000 people to 283.5 incidents, reaching a 16-year high. according to fbi.gov.
“I think it’s difficult for police departments to investigate stolen cars because of the amount of stolen cars that are occurring,” Brunner added.
‘It’s just a monstrous amount. But there are simply no clues.