Your car is not a safe space…
I can’t believe how many times I’ve been in a person’s car and they don’t bother to lock the doors, like at all. It’s a dangerous, bad habit to be in, as you’re about to be reminded of. Apparently, a lot of people in Commerce City, Colorado share that mentality, because back in 2014 a guy was able to go on a rampage like he was playing Grand Theft Auto, running from the cops while carjacking multiple people.
All this guy had to do was get the people to stop and then he simply pulled the driver’s door open, pulled the driver out, then hopped inside and drove away. Yep, that’s it. If these people had locked their doors he probably wouldn’t have been successful at all. Instead, he was running from the cops for close to an hour before he finally couldn’t get over a fence and had to surrender.
I’m not pointing out this safety fact to shame the victims in the least. The woman riding in the front passenger seat of the minivan looked absolutely terrified as the male driver was forcefully yanked out of the vehicle and she barely got out before she was taken captive. That’s a scary situation nobody should be put in, all caused by a selfish criminal who thinks everyone else and their stuff exist to help him.
While we’re on the topic, when you’re sitting in a parked vehicle you’re actually extra vulnerable. With crime just out of control these days, it’s good to remember your car doesn’t make you impervious to harm, especially when it’s sitting still. At the very least, keep your doors locked and don’t make it extra easy for criminals. You should also keep your head on a swivel and be ready to bolt if something doesn’t look right. But if you remember nothing else from all this, it’s to lock your doors, especially when you’re driving down the road.
Check out the short recap of the chase and carjackings in the Twitter embed or watch the whole, raw police chase footage in the YouTube embed. Both are pretty wild.
