A Centennial woman who was punched and dragged during a carjacking said she couldn’t help wondering how things would have turned out if her children were in the car.
“I would have done everything I could to stay in the car if they were there,” she said Thursday by cellphone as she drove her recovered Honda Accord.
Her kids, ages 8 and 10, were at home during Wednesday morning’s attack. She said she didn’t resist, but that didn’t stop her attacker from beating her as she tried to escape.
The 39-year-old woman – who asked that her name not be used because her assailant is still at large – said she was stopped at a traffic light at East Orchard Road and South Clarkson Street about 7 a.m. Wednesday when a man asked her for directions from about 15 feet away.
Before she knew it, she said, he lunged through her rolled-down window and hit her in the face.
“He fit through my window, and he didn’t do a whole lot of damage to my face, so he wasn’t too big,” she said.
She blared her horn as she tried to jump out of the car. Her arm got tangled in a seat belt, and she was dragged about 10 feet down the street. Her car was recovered less than a mile away shortly after the incident.
Authorities continued searching for the attacker Thursday. The woman described him as white, 5-foot-6, with blue eyes, weighing about 150 pounds.
Bruce Williamson of the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office said the victim was wise not to resist her attacker.
“The only thing this lady could have done different was make sure … her windows weren’t down,” he said.
The woman said her windows are usually closed but it was a nice morning. A day after the attack, the scraped and bruised victim said she was still baffled.
“I just really wonder why someone would endanger someone else’s life for something so small,” she said. “I certainly hope that he’s caught and he learns from this.”
Authorities are asking people with information about the crime to call the Sheriff’s Office at 303-795-4711.
Staff writer Vimal Patel can be reached at 303-954-1638 or vpatel@denverpost.com.
