A 9-year-old girl who was taken in a carjacking managed to carry her 11-month-old brother to safety in Las Vegas last week.
The incident began Monday night when Karen Quinn pulled over to use an ATM machine inside a convenience store, according to KVVU-TV.
Although she said she locked the door, Quinn said the man was able to enter the vehicle.
“He opened the [car] door, and I tried to grab him, and I grabbed his sweater in the door, and he reversed and kind of rolled over the top of my foot,” she said. “And I was like, ‘Please, my kids are in the car! Please! My kids are in the car!’ He looked back at my daughter. She was like, ‘Mom! Mom!’”
“And I was like, please just let them out, you can have the car. Just let them out, let them out!” she said. The man drove away. She ran after the car.
“And I’m running, ‘cause I didn’t call the police at first ’cause I’m chasing. I’m just like — I’m going to get this car. I’m going, running. I’m going to get my kids,” she said.
After the suspect in the theft let the children out, the 9-year-old went back to the place where they were taken.
“My daughter ran five blocks from the store with my 11-month baby, with no shoes on,” Quinn said.
By now, police were involved, and one phoned Quinn to report the arrival of the children at the store.
“And he said, ‘We have your kids.’ And when he said that, I just fell to the ground. I was like, ‘Thank you God, thank you God, thank you,’” she said.
Irene Brown, the mother of Karen Quinn, added some details on a GoFundMe page created to help the family deal with costs from the incident. (Inclusion of material from the page does not constitute an endorsement of the fund-raiser.)
A 9-year-old girl is being called a hero after she ran barefoot to carry her baby brother to safety after they were kidnapped Monday night in North Las Vegas. https://t.co/EgH1qBPNmk
— FOX5 Las Vegas (@FOX5Vegas) October 29, 2022
“My 9yr old granddaughter is a hero for saving her baby brother. She unhooked him out his car seat and begged the man to let them out. He finally pulled over and she jumped out on a dark street and carried her baby brother for five blocks to safety back to the store. She said it was dark, but she just walked toward where she could see light,” she said.
She said the incident left the little girl traumatized.
“My grand daughter has a kidney disease, FSGS Nephrotic Syndrome and after running in fear, she is now having pain and nightmares telling her mother she did not want her or her brother to die. She has not left her mother’s side and has trouble sleeping. She will need counseling and the other kids have been affected also. They are all so scared,” she wrote.
Police pursued the vehicle, according to KLAS-TV, and eventually arrested Mario Anthony Estrada, who faces charges that include grand larceny, second-degree kidnapping and child neglect.
The driver crashed the car twice trying to elude police. Police said that after the vehicle stopped, Estrada lay on the ground and told police he needed help.
Police said Estrada became “agitated and combative” as he was put in a police car.
Estrada was treated at a hospital prior to being jailed at North Las Vegas Community Correctional Center.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.