As one wag put it "E-S-T-R-A-D-A - no matter how you rearrange the letters, you can't come up with S-M-A-R-T".
The lady was VERY lucky. Now tell me again that if I am nice to the Bad Man, he won't hurt me.
http://www.abqjournal.com/news/66767news06-30-00.htm
Carjacking Victim Saves Herself
By Jeff Jones
Journal Staff Writer
A 44-year-old Albuquerque mother of two likely saved her own life earlier this week when she grappled with a gun-toting man who carjacked her, kidnapped her and threatened to kill her, police say.
The young man suspected in the Sunday-night incident that began at Cottonwood Mall, identified by police as Jeremy Anthony Estrada, 19, remained at large as of Thursday evening. But alleged accomplice Carlos Rocha, 22, has turned himself in, Albuquerque Police Department violent crimes Sgt. Doug Shawn said.
The carjacking victim, who the Journal is not identifying because Estrada hasn't been located, said Thursday she was working at the mall late Sunday doing inventory. She walked out to a red Dodge Durango sport utility vehicle that she had rented for a business trip earlier in the week. After she was in the vehicle, she said, a lowrider truck came "zooming up," and one man got out with a handgun.
She said the man banged on the driver's side window, got in, forced her into the front passenger's seat and allegedly kept his gun pointed at the base of her skull. He demanded money, but she had only $4.
The would-be robber also demanded that the woman go to an ATM to get money, according to an arrest-warrant affidavit for Estrada filed in Metropolitan Court. The woman does not have an ATM card.
At one point, her attacker allegedly forced her to write him a $200 check, gave her his name and even spelled it for her: E-S-T-R-A-D-A.
Shawn agreed that wasn't a smart move for the suspect, but it sure helped police later identify him.
The woman said the young man at one point told her he planned to kill her and drove out of the mall's parking lot.
"I was crying. I was saying, 'Don't you have a mother? How would you feel if somebody killed your mother?' '' she said.
The man drove toward Corrales and eventually pulled the Durango over. The woman said he had just told his accomplice — who was allegedly following behind the Durango in the lowrider pickup — that "I'm just gonna kill the (expletive) bitch and get it over with" when she lunged at him.
"The gun went off into the roof instead of at me," she said. "I just knew, at that moment, he was going to kill me. It was just a flush of anger that came over me, and I (thought), 'I'm not gonna let this little scumbag do this to me.' ''
The woman said she got control of the gun after it fired, and she then fell into the back seat.
She alleged the man punched her in the face, bit her ear and pleaded with her to give the gun back, but she held on and was able to honk the horn with one of her feet.
"He finally said, 'I do love my mother,'" the woman said. "I just thought this was funny — here this kid's trying to kill me, and he's telling me he loves his mother."
The woman said the lowrider truck drove away after the gunshot. During the struggle, a passerby ran up to the car to see what was going on. That's when the attacker fled.
Shawn said police don't know who the passerby was, but they definitely want to talk to him.
"If he hadn't stopped, I don't know what would have happened," the woman said.
She said she came away from the battle with a broken nose, bruises and a bite on her right ear. She said she had never considered herself a lucky person. And even though it has been five days since the attack, "I can't even ... believe I'm still alive."
The carjacking was reported at 11:40 p.m. Sunday. About an hour before, Estrada is suspected of popping off several gunshots at an APD officer from the lowrider pickup truck — and Rocha was reportedly driving the vehicle.
Shawn and the arrest warrant affidavit said APD Officer Shad Solis was on patrol about 10:40 p.m. Sunday when he saw two vehicles in a parking lot on West Central Avenue and decided to see what was going on.
One of vehicles, a green lowrider pickup with a picture of the Virgin Mary painted on the hood, drove away. Solis turned on his emergency lights and siren. But the truck continued to flee, and a passenger allegedly fired shots at Solis as the vehicle turned onto 58th Street. Police searched for the truck after the gunfire but couldn't find it, Shawn said.
The carjacking victim said she didn't leave her home for two days after the attack, and her young son slept two nights with a baseball bat next to him.
Rocha remained behind bars Thursday evening in lieu of $50,000 jail bond. People with information on Estrada's whereabouts can call Crime Stoppers at 843-STOP.
Copyright © 1997 - 2000 Albuquerque Journal
The lady was VERY lucky. Now tell me again that if I am nice to the Bad Man, he won't hurt me.
http://www.abqjournal.com/news/66767news06-30-00.htm
Carjacking Victim Saves Herself
By Jeff Jones
Journal Staff Writer
A 44-year-old Albuquerque mother of two likely saved her own life earlier this week when she grappled with a gun-toting man who carjacked her, kidnapped her and threatened to kill her, police say.
The young man suspected in the Sunday-night incident that began at Cottonwood Mall, identified by police as Jeremy Anthony Estrada, 19, remained at large as of Thursday evening. But alleged accomplice Carlos Rocha, 22, has turned himself in, Albuquerque Police Department violent crimes Sgt. Doug Shawn said.
The carjacking victim, who the Journal is not identifying because Estrada hasn't been located, said Thursday she was working at the mall late Sunday doing inventory. She walked out to a red Dodge Durango sport utility vehicle that she had rented for a business trip earlier in the week. After she was in the vehicle, she said, a lowrider truck came "zooming up," and one man got out with a handgun.
She said the man banged on the driver's side window, got in, forced her into the front passenger's seat and allegedly kept his gun pointed at the base of her skull. He demanded money, but she had only $4.
The would-be robber also demanded that the woman go to an ATM to get money, according to an arrest-warrant affidavit for Estrada filed in Metropolitan Court. The woman does not have an ATM card.
At one point, her attacker allegedly forced her to write him a $200 check, gave her his name and even spelled it for her: E-S-T-R-A-D-A.
Shawn agreed that wasn't a smart move for the suspect, but it sure helped police later identify him.
The woman said the young man at one point told her he planned to kill her and drove out of the mall's parking lot.
"I was crying. I was saying, 'Don't you have a mother? How would you feel if somebody killed your mother?' '' she said.
The man drove toward Corrales and eventually pulled the Durango over. The woman said he had just told his accomplice — who was allegedly following behind the Durango in the lowrider pickup — that "I'm just gonna kill the (expletive) bitch and get it over with" when she lunged at him.
"The gun went off into the roof instead of at me," she said. "I just knew, at that moment, he was going to kill me. It was just a flush of anger that came over me, and I (thought), 'I'm not gonna let this little scumbag do this to me.' ''
The woman said she got control of the gun after it fired, and she then fell into the back seat.
She alleged the man punched her in the face, bit her ear and pleaded with her to give the gun back, but she held on and was able to honk the horn with one of her feet.
"He finally said, 'I do love my mother,'" the woman said. "I just thought this was funny — here this kid's trying to kill me, and he's telling me he loves his mother."
The woman said the lowrider truck drove away after the gunshot. During the struggle, a passerby ran up to the car to see what was going on. That's when the attacker fled.
Shawn said police don't know who the passerby was, but they definitely want to talk to him.
"If he hadn't stopped, I don't know what would have happened," the woman said.
She said she came away from the battle with a broken nose, bruises and a bite on her right ear. She said she had never considered herself a lucky person. And even though it has been five days since the attack, "I can't even ... believe I'm still alive."
The carjacking was reported at 11:40 p.m. Sunday. About an hour before, Estrada is suspected of popping off several gunshots at an APD officer from the lowrider pickup truck — and Rocha was reportedly driving the vehicle.
Shawn and the arrest warrant affidavit said APD Officer Shad Solis was on patrol about 10:40 p.m. Sunday when he saw two vehicles in a parking lot on West Central Avenue and decided to see what was going on.
One of vehicles, a green lowrider pickup with a picture of the Virgin Mary painted on the hood, drove away. Solis turned on his emergency lights and siren. But the truck continued to flee, and a passenger allegedly fired shots at Solis as the vehicle turned onto 58th Street. Police searched for the truck after the gunfire but couldn't find it, Shawn said.
The carjacking victim said she didn't leave her home for two days after the attack, and her young son slept two nights with a baseball bat next to him.
Rocha remained behind bars Thursday evening in lieu of $50,000 jail bond. People with information on Estrada's whereabouts can call Crime Stoppers at 843-STOP.
Copyright © 1997 - 2000 Albuquerque Journal