Woman survives after being dragged during carjacking on Indy’s north side
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — An Indianapolis woman is recovering after being dragged during a carjacking on the city’s north side.
It happened near Winthrop and 34th Street Monday night.
The 54-year-old victim told 24-Hour News 8 she was getting food when a man approached her asking for a ride. He told her he would give her $10 for the trip.
Rachael Herndon said she had seen the man in passing before and wanted to help, but had no idea he had something else in mind.
“It makes me mad because all I do is go to work and I don’t deserve that,” said Herndon.
Herndon works two jobs to make ends meet and now she’s left with bruises and burns all over her body, a reminder of what happened.
“My feet are swollen, my hands swollen, I got bruises I got over here,” she said. “My hip is swollen, my back, everything hurts.”
Herndon said she left a relative’s house and was getting ready to drop the man off when she couldn’t find her phone.
“I started looking for my phone he was on the passenger side,” she said, “He wasn’t doing nothing, he wasn’t suspicious or nothing.”
But Herndon said something changed when she went over to the passenger seat to check underneath.
“He got in on the driver side he got in there so fast,” she said. “I should have been paying more attention but I didn’t get a bad vibe or nothing from him.”
Herndon said she couldn’t believe what he was doing.
“When he took off I was looking up under the seat and my feet were hanging out,” she said. “I looked over and I said I know you ain’t taking my car he said you better get out I’m taking this.”
Herndon held on for dear life.
“He said you better let go because you going to die and I’m just looking at him like ‘I can’t believe this’,” she said. “But then I’m seeing my feet are dragging and my tennis shoes I can literally feel my tennis shoes being ripped then I started feeling my skin.”
She said she was dragged for about a block and a half with the man going about 70 miles per hour.
“I finally said ‘Lord just keep me safe’, I let go and I seen one of my car wheels go past my head,” she said. “I knew that could have been my head.”
Herndon rolled onto the ground and was able to get help. She said she’s now thinking twice about helping someone else.
“You have to pay attention to what you’re doing, who you’re around, if you get bad vibes or if you feel like don’t do it, don’t do it,” she said. “Because your life could be taken before you know it.”
The stolen car is described as a 2010 White Mazda Six. Herndon said she bought the car in May and had plans to drive for Uber.
As for the investigation, police said they are still looking into the case and did not have a suspect description available as of Tuesday night.
