Woman calls 911 as man hangs from her moving car
WESLEY CHAPEL, Fla. (WFLA) – A woman made a frantic 911 call as she said a stranger tried to climb through the driver’s side window of her moving car on State Road 54 in Wesley Chapel.
Tracey Barnes said she’s reliving that moment over and over after the bizarre incident Sunday.
She can be heard in the 911 call telling a dispatcher, “I have a man hanging onto my moving vehicle right now.”
She said it began near SR-54 and Vandine Road and ended roughly half a mile away in the area of Boyette Road.
“Help me, help me,” Barnes said to the 911 dispatcher.
“Today I still cannot believe this happened to me. I’m shaking right now just remembering it,” Barnes said.
Barnes says 21-year-old Yosmin Amaya stepped in front of her car and waved his hands for help.
“And I rolled my window down a little bit and that’s when I realized, ‘Oh no, I’m in trouble.’ He grabbed a hold of my window and reached in and touched me and said, ‘I need your car, I need your car right now,’” Barnes said.
That’s when she sped off, with Amaya still hanging onto the car.
“I said, ‘You are not getting my car, get off my car.’ I was screaming at him and there was one point in time when I was having to slow down, he actually got this foot in my window,” Barnes said.
Barnes thought she was done for, but several people stepped in to help until deputies arrived.
Now Barnes has a message for all women traveling alone.
“Unfortunately, do not ever open your car or open your window. Do not open it for any reason, especially if you’re by yourself,” Barnes said.
Pasco County deputies believe Amaya caused roughly $1,000 worth of damage to Barnes’ car.
It’s unclear what Amaya was doing in the area, deputies say.