North Carolina Woman Victim Of Attempted Carjacking After Stopping To Help ‘Small Child’ That Was Actually A Dummy

A 33-year-old North Carolina woman is recovering from the shock of her life after an attempted carjacking early Sunday morning; she slowed down to help a small child that turned out to be a dummy. That’s when two suspects in hoodies ran out and attempted to steal her car. Deputies at the Carteret County Sheriff’s Department say that the dummy was actually being used as bait in the crime.

As Fox 13 Now reports, the attempted North Carolina carjacking happened at 1:30 a.m. on January 22; the victim was driving near West Southwinds Drive and Pagoda Court in Newport when she spotted what appeared to be a small child sitting in the middle of the roadway. The “child” was wearing a red “Field & Stream” t-shirt and black pants, and as the North Carolina woman slowed down to get a better look, her car was approached by two men.

The men who perpetrated the attempted carjacking are described as young white males wearing dark hoodies; the victim claims that they ran up to her slow-moving vehicle and tried to open the doors. Fortunately, her vehicle was still locked and the assailants were unable to open the doors to get inside.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMdPRLmrTNQ

Realizing what was happening, the North Carolina attempted carjacking victim sped off, driving to safety. She reported the crime to the Carteret County Sheriff’s Department shortly thereafter.

As KMBC 9 reports, when detectives arrived at the scene of the attempted crime, they found the dummy a short distance away from where the victim said she was assailed. Unfortunately, they did not find the two men who allegedly attempted to pull off the brazen carjacking using the dummy as bait. The dummy used in the carjacking incident has been seized as evidence by law enforcement.

As Detective Jason Wank of the Carteret County Sheriff’s Department stated following the attempted carjacking, the victim’s actions of keeping her doors locked and immediately speeding away from the scene of the attack were “absolutely the right thing to do.”

While investigators agree that the crime almost perpetrated against the North Carolina woman was handled very appropriately by the victim, they also agree that the outcome could have been much worse had she not been driving with her vehicle’s doors locked.

According to Detective Wank, the attempted carjacking had the best outcome possible, and he suggested that other drivers let the near-miss serve as a warning to them. In a Carteret County Sheriff’s Department press release, the detective recommended that all drivers keep their doors locked while operating their vehicles. Further, it is always recommended that you stay in your car if you’re approaching a suspicious situation.

damn y'all are crazy down there @SiegelLucas

— Commissioner B (@BryanParque) January 26, 2017

Such as a plastic dummy in the middle of the road at 1:30 a.m.

As Fox 8 reports, Dollar General store in the area of Sunday’s attempted North Carolina carjacking was robbed by two men in late December. Since then, police have been searching for the perpetrators. The alleged robbers were reportedly armed, and one of the suspects allegedly hit the on-call Dollar General manager during the robbery.

That man was hospitalized and placed into a medically induced coma following the incident; a close friend told the local media that the victim “in an induced coma at this point and supposedly had a heart attack during the attack.”

As per the press release related to the Sunday morning attempted carjacking involving the disguised dummy, Carteret County detectives can’t “rule out of this incident is connected to the Dollar General robbery.”

Carteret County Crime Stoppers have stepped up following the news of the attempted North Carolina carjacking, and are offering a reward for information leading to arrests made in the case. Anyone with information has been asked to contact Crime Stoppers at (252) 726-INFO (4636). Alternatively, anyone who knows anything about the attempted Sunday morning North Carolina carjacking involving a dummy as bait is invited to contact Sheriff’s Office, Derek Moore, at 728-8400 ext. 8849.

[Featured Image by Carteret County Sheriff’s Department]