Alarming dash cam footage shows a man hanging desperately onto his stolen car as an opportunistic thief sped away in it.
The terrifying incident occurred September 10, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. Of course, having your car stolen is an awful ordeal in itself, but this man suffered through a particularly disturbing nightmare.
He had been clinging to the car when the thief decided to take off. The man was helpless as the car headed off at approximately 35mph; leaving him hanging onto the driver’s window. His steel toe boots could be seen dragging and sparking against the asphalt.
The footage shows the stolen white sedan zooming along a busy road, taking the unfortunate owner, who has not been publicly identified, with it. Thankfully, the man survived the horrifying incident with only minor injuries.
The footage was shot by witness Reed Pellerin, who had recently moved to Los Angeles’ Silverlake neighborhood from Oklahoma.
Pellerin told ABC7 how he had seen the incident unfold while he was in his own car, and decided to film it from the next lane over:
Hear some arguing going on behind me in the lane over, so I look back, I can’t quite tell what’s going on.
I could tell a couple of people are out of their car, and the next thing I know the guy is just flying past me, the thief in the vehicle and the owner hanging out of the vehicle.
Pellerin added:
The right side of his body was in the back window on the driver’s side. He was holding onto what appeared to be the seat,
He was panicked. He was like adrenaline pumping. He was just looking for his glasses. He was moving around. I mean, his face was all bloody.
The vehicle reportedly dragged the man for around three quarters of a mile until he eventually lost his grip. The car continued onwards, and Pellerin stopped to call emergency services.
According to the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), the man had originally stopped to help out another driver fix a flat tire.
The thief took their opportunity after the man – being a Good Samaritan – left his keys in the car while going over to help the other driver out.
The LAPD located the man’s car at around 2:30 a.m. on Tuesday September 11. They also arrested a man on suspicion of carjacking, identifying him as 30-year-old Sergio Fernandez. Fernandez was reportedly taken into police custody without incident.
How sad it is that this man had only been trying to help another person out and ended up being taken advantage of?
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Jules studied English Literature with Creative Writing at Lancaster University before earning her masters in International Relations at Leiden University in The Netherlands (Hoi!). She then trained as a journalist through News Associates in Manchester. Jules has previously worked as a mental health blogger, copywriter and freelancer for various publications.