In a classic case of fight-or-flight response, a Milwaukee woman named Melissa Smith has just filled up her Subaru Outback and realizes there’s a man on the driver’s side about to steal her off-roading vehicle. Rather than let the thief drive off with her ride, she takes action. Immediately jumping up onto the hood, Melissa stares the criminal right in the eyes. According to an interview the victim provided to various news outlets, the thief laughed in her face and turned the wipers on, in an attempt to brush her off like mere precipitation. That didn’t work. She grabs onto the wipers for dear life. Then in two successive attempts, the would-be thief accelerates quickly and brakes, trying to shake Ms. Smith from the hood.
At this point, the thief seems to have his own fight-or-flight moment, and realizes that he’s either going to escalate this car theft to a kidnapping and probable manslaughter charge, or have to give up entirely. Choosing flight, he grabs Ms. Smith’s purse, phone, and wallet from the Outback, and returns to join his comrades in the back of the Deville.
I found unedited footage for you, so you can watch in peace without the inane audio commentary from a talking head. There’s no sound at all in this clip, but you don’t really need it.
Our question today: Would you have taken the same action?
Before we get to your decision, take a look at what Subaru of America shared on Facebook.
Subaru’s opinion is fairly cut and dry; an owner was doing what was necessary because of Subaru Love. Interesting.
But now I turn it over to you, B&B. Faced with this same situation (unarmed and alone), which do you choose?
- Fight it out with a would-be carjacker, risking life and limb for your CUV.
- Find a phone, and let the authorities and insurance company handle it from there.
She did what she felt she needed to do at the moment. There isn’t time for navel gazing when the shit hits the fan.
It had nothing to do with it being a Subaru – trust Subaru to thrown in their inane “Love” slogan. Love doesn`t make a Subaru – engineering does!
Let my play devil’s advocate and say that it depends on your stage of life.
That was a young woman. Her car is insured and easily replaceable. The expected remaining years of her life and future accomplishments are not. The rational reaction would be to ‘let it go’.
However at my stage in life, I am worth much more financially dead than alive. And have probably passed my peak in regards to professional, athletic and academic accomplishments. May eventually become a burden on my family and/or society. So the rational reaction would be to fight it out. Get killed and my family has a ‘windfall’. Win and I look like a hero. Which is a good reason why we older, still physically capable individuals should be the first ones recruited by the military and used in war zones. The opposite of what actually happens.
I believe you’ve read a lot of Robert Heinlein in your life?
Grok on.
@syke, Actually I haven’t. My Sci-fi stopped at Asimov and Verne. But you have piqued my interest. Although it appears that my personal political trajectory was to a large degree the opposite of his.
Every time I read a Heinlein book I wish that he had started a religion instead of L. Ron Hubbard.
The military is looking into cutting edge bioscience stuff like mitochondrial boosters to improve the physical performance of middle-aged warfighters, capitalizing on their years of experience.
But *recruiting* mature adults isn’t the best way to go because older people have calcified personalities that are much harder to “break down and build up” aka reshape your psyche in order to instill “instant and willing obedience to orders” and military discipline.
Plus there is a gap between taking risks and being daring on one hand, and basically suicidal bravery on the other.
No. This is why I have insurance. Property is not worth serious injury or dying over; at the end of the day it’s just a car.
Simple answer, no. I like my car alot, not enough to die for it though.
This click bait article reminds me of Deep Thoughts With Jack Handy.
Ommmm
This is why you don’t leave keys in the ignition or important property in the vehicle. When I buy fuel my keys, phone, and wallet are in my pocket. I also only unlock the driver’s door and often times I’ll lock the vehicle with the fob when I get gas. A far more common crime than this is “open door, grab stuff, run” type of crime. Women take your purse out with you.
Also carmakers, please always put the fuel filler on the driver’s side. My truck has it there but my wife’s CUV is on the passenger side.
That said I’m not defending it if its empty; its an insured chuck of metal. That’s why I pay State Farm money every month. If my kid is in it let the lead fly…
Agreed. Most of these carjackings at gas stations are crimes of opportunity. Wallet and cellphone in wallet + locked vehicle = no crime in most cases.
“Also carmakers, please always put the fuel filler on the driver’s side. My truck has it there but my wife’s CUV is on the passenger side.”
I have seen enough fuel spills at LeMons and gas station fire videos on Youtube to know that fuel filler should be as far from the driver’s door as possible.
Crime of Opportunity is the key here. It seems like the vast majority of car thefts could be prevented if the keys were not left in the car.
Sadly, this lends more evidence that the place for the fuel filling access should be on the driver’s side. AFAIK, this is a domestic versus imported thing. Domestics seem to have the fuel access on the driver’s side, while imports are on the passenger side.
Supposedly, the logic for having the access on the passenger side is that, in the event of unexpectedly running out of gas on the road, refueling will be safer since it will be done on the curbside, rather than refueling exposed to traffic. That logic does have merit. Of course, the flipside is exactly what occurred in the video. It would have been much more difficult for the thief to have gotten into the Subie if the driver’s door had been adjacent to the pumps and only a few feet from the owner.
As to the woman’s actions, well, I put it down to an instinctive reaction that anyone can have in a similar situation. Given time to think and weigh the potential consequences (death or, worse, sustaining a permanent, debilitating injury) versus the benefits, I doubt she would have done it.
My Hondas, Acuras and VWs: driver’s side.
My Chevy = passenger side…
Posted before reading rudiger’s post. Mostly agree, so deleted most of my post.
However, I take my keys with me (feels wrong if they’re not in my pocket), so I like having the fuel door on the passenger side.
Nope. My car is ultimately just bent metal, and insured bent metal at that. He’s welcome to it, I’ll just get another one.
Is this guy a “carjacker”? Seems more like a car thief to me.
“Carjack” implies stealing a car at gunpoint, right?
A carjacker (to me) means when the car is stolen and the owner is there, in or around the vehicle. A car thief comes up the driveway when you’re asleep, or when your car is in the parking lot of a mall.
Take my car – carjacker!!
It would be the perfect reason for me to convince my wife I need a new car!!
Take my wife’s car.
Please!
Not unless my baby son was in the car. Alone, not a chance. You’re welcome to my car if you can drive it.
Incidentally, this is a big point in favor of proximity keys that can just stay in your pocket. The key is always with me when I get out to pump gas and a potential thief would need to either overpower me or brandish a weapon to get it, both being unlikely during the day at a busy gas station.
Agreed. Unless my wife, kids, grandson was in danger, I’d probably let it go. I’d be mad as heck (edited for the comments nannies) after the thief left though!
Maybe she didn’t have gap insurance.
nope, especially if I see a gun. I don’t need to pretend like I’d be John McClane like the typical Internet Tough Guy.
Yeah, keep your keys in your pocket and watch your surroundings- actively pay attention to your surroundings. An ounce of prevention and all that…
Good for her. Too bad the carjacker didn’t run across a busy thoroughfare and get clipped.
Interesting to think on the keys topic.
-Women’s keys are in their purses, which they always leave in the car when getting gas.
-Men’s keys are in their pocket, and on them at all times.
In a gas station situation, you’re more likely to be successful with your theft if you target a woman.
With keyless ignition my wife’s car would be super easy to steal this way. As mentioned the key (and her phone) just sit in her purse which is in the car during the whole fueling process. Good news is my wife has started filling up at Costco only these days. And there are so many cars in line you can’t jack anything there.
Also good follow-up question: How would a car (such as my present Honda) react with it’s keyless fob and start button? If I’m standing close enough for the door locks to operate, would the ignition work? If it did, and the key is in my pocket, what would the vehicle then do when driven away (WITHOUT me on the hood, of course, which might enable continued driving by bringing the key closer)?
I suppose I could drive along a fairly deserted road and toss the key fob from the window, but I may not be that committed to research here…
The sensitivity of keyless fobs interests me, and certainly varies widely by manufacturer. The system on my Infiniti is detailed enough to know whether the fob is in the car or just outside of it at the door. As soon as I get out with the car running and the fob in my pocket, it beeps at me.
Once, I left the fob right outside, shut the door, and tried to start. It just gave me the NO KEY message on the dash.
I want there to be a test across all manufacturers and see how they do. Try your Honda at home, just put the key on the ground.
The engine will keep running w/o the fob present. Once they turn it off though they won’t be able to restart it, though depending on the car it might restart if done immediately. Having the car shut off if it lost signal from the fob would be considered a safety issue. You don’t want the engine shutting off while driving down the road.
My mother in law just purchased a 17 Mustang Convertible. So I had to program things like her favorite radio stations, autolamp delay ect. She was outside the car with the fob in her hand, no more than 5′ from the cabin and it wouldn’t start. She came over and held it above the cabin and the green light on the start/stop button came on and the car would start. She went into the house while I finished filling up the 20 presets with her 5 stations. I then shut the car off and it displayed “fob not present push start to restart now”. So apparently it will restart immediately after a shut down even if the fob is not present. However as soon as I opened the door it stopped displaying that message and wouldn’t restart.
I also had a friend who told me the story of her Prius and its fob. Her and her then husband had to go two different places, both far away from home. She left the fob in her purse and he took off to his destination several miles away. He had no problem until it was time to go and pick her up at which point he couldn’t restart the car.
You don’t have to go to a deserted road to test it out. Start the car, put the fob in the house and go for a drive around the block and see what happens.
My wife had an incident that describes what you’re saying. She accidentally left her keys on the roof while getting our son strapped in to his car seat, started the car, and drove off. They flew off the roof on a busy 6-lane road and were shattered>
What we learned is, at least in our Hyundai, that the keys are not required once the car is turned on – it will run as long as you don’t turn it off. She was able to drive 15 minutes to the dealer and have a new key made (for $400, ouch!), and then could re-start the car again.
As for sensitivity, it knows if it is just outside the door and won’t turn on (I’ve tested it), but this incident showed us that on the glass roof was apparently near enough to the sensor that it would work.
Dude… never. They make lots of the same car. Better ones. Newer ones. With stick shift. With those packages I couldn’t get the first time around. Etc.
I wonder what “value” her behavior represents. Is it bravery? Maybe. Like the first commenter warned, I am not here to judge but understand.
Because of low sales (<1%), the manual transmission option for {your vehicle} has been deleted.
Actually, the stick shift might be a good deterrent. I’d bet most of those miscreants don’t know how to shift.
Would I jump on the hood to save my car? No. But if I was in the car and ordered out, I’d probably hit the gas and hopefully run over the piece of trash.
Being ordered to get out of your own car is an entirely different situation. That is because you now have to assess the risk differently. I WOULD hit the gas to escape, but not to run over a perpetrator. If they are unarmed, I would not want to kill a human being, no matter their original intent. If they are armed, it’s a stupid risk in case I missed.
“Subaru’s opinion is fairly cut and dry; an owner was doing what was necessary because of Subaru Love”
A dude working with me has a Subaru. He said, there is no way he would fight for his.
If it was my car and I wanted to keep it, I would be standing in front of the car (few yards away) with gun pointing firmly to that guy. If he tries to run me over, I shoot. But I guess, these thieves wouldn’t do it to me. They pick helpless victims
Even though I have a CHCL and carry, I wouldn’t shoot if it were just my vehicle (or any piece of property, for that matter). The burden of proof would then fall upon me, to convince the legal system that my life (or the life of another) was in imminent danger…and I live in a VERY gun friendly red state.
The hassle of replacing a stolen vehicle is far, far less than that of dealing with the legal system after you shoot another person. Not to mention the expense of a good defense attorney (which may or may not be covered by your homeowners liability coverage); I’d rather use that money to buy myself a nicer vehicle, instead of buying one for an attorney.
That woman just proved to everyone for eternity that she’s as dumb as a bag of bricks.
The only reason I’d do that would be if there was a kid in the car or a bag with $100,000 in cash.
May be she had a bag of cash there? Who knows! May be it is stupid. But if every good citizen shot one bad dude, we would have much more space, lower rent, less pollution, etc
equating crime with criminals is a really bad way to understand why it happens, slavuta.
If I just happened to get the drop on him, then sure because f**k carjackers. But I wouldn’t force a fight from a bad position over a piece of property.
See the trick is to drive such a POS no one would ever car jack you.
Another hat tip to the 3800, I see.
The deity who keeps giving and giving.
Amen and hallelujah.
The trick is to drive a manual gearbox – will deter about 99% of car jacking.
I have super-glued grab handles all over the exterior of my vehicle.
Also solid rationale to staple a pair running boards onto the sides. Maybe even one of those huge-ass Japanese front spoilers, as well.
Agreed.
Except for when you get murdered for it because they can’t drive stick, like what happened to that guy last year.
Ah, my preference for old, cheap subcompact beaters pays off.
I would also be too busy laughing at thief’s likely ineptitude at operating a manual transmission and unawareness of what a clutch interlock switch is. I might even concern troll them: “Do you need help? Have you ever stolen a car before?”
Don’t laugh at them, or you could end up like Pedro Aguilar. Carjackers got mad because they couldn’t drive his car, killed him in front of his wife and daughter. If you know they can’t drive away in it, just leave and come back after they give up.
Good point, and beater dogma is good. There is a Hellcat owner in my building. When it hails (which it does here in the good ole Midwest a LOT right now) I worry about his car FOR him. It’s a fine machine.
My 17 year-old CR-V looks at the sky and screams “BRING IT ON”
I was once on Short North in Columbus, and someone from the UAE was poncing around in their Mercedes SLS which was white, with red painted wheels.
It started hailing a few moments later, and I was very concerned for the well-being of that car.
Also, they already have a POS and want something nicer. See Northstar Deville.
#aspirational
Just last night I had the supreme privilege of being ferried around in a ghetto fabulous’d 97 Olds Bravada, complete with missing door panels and 189 on the clock.
#aspirational
Now don’t start buying drugs, drugs are bad.
Crack is whack, yo.
Ask Whitney Houston.
Possibly the dumbest young person in recent memory.
She just passed five years of sobriety.
not always a sure thing; drive a POS ’80s Monte Carlo in certain areas and it’ll still get jacked so someone can donk it.
True.
That’s why you drive the four-door Cutlass.
But, once “Donked”, no one can climb on the hood anymore…so there’s that…
this should be the be all, end all argument for NOT PUTTING THE FILLER ON THE PASSENGER SIDE!
Jerry Reynolds started a petition for driver side fuel filler. More convenient and safer at the gas station. http://www.carprousa.com/sign-the-petition-all-vehicles-need-fuel-filler-on-drivers-side The main reason for putting the fuel filler on the passenger side is that its safer to add fuel on the passenger side if you run out of gas on the highway. This is stupid. People refuel at gas stations every week or two for the life of the car and most cars remind you if you’re running low on fuel. I haven’t added gasoline from a gas can to any car in a couple decades.
No, I wouldn’t fight for my car like that.
As for Subaru – they should have stayed out of it. Their post seems to advocate stupid, dangerous behavior.
I concur. But they just saw it as a marketing opportunity.
It depends. If a guy has a gun in my face, I would let it go. That’s why I pay insurance. But no gun, no car…at least not unless he’s huge. Not worth my car AND my dignity.
That said, I’d take a bullet if my kids were in the backseat.
Not unless my family was in the vehicle. My preference would be to shoot & kill the carjacker, but in California I’d get life in prison for defending myself & my property with a gun.
So move out of California if it’s so bad .
.
I can’t imagine leaving keys in the ignition….
.
No wonder SWMBO always askes me to fill up her car .
.
-Nate
While I am ALWAYS aware of my surroundings, I would probably just let them take it. But the likelihood of this happening to me is slim to none. I think most criminals themselves are aware of that their victims are not aware and they become easy targets; just human nature and intuition.
Whenever I go out to a restaurant or wherever I always try to get the “Gunfighters” seat; don’t want nobody behind me.
This is why God made insurance, folks…let it go.
There was a gas station carjacking on the news recently, the girl had the presence of mind to spray the guy with gas through the open window as he drove away! He still got the car, but I’d like to think he’ll think twice before doing it again…..but probably not.
^^^ Hehehe! That is GREAT!
Feisty lady!
That’s a pretty clear shot of the Deville’s licence plate. Wonder if the gendarmes have picked up the perps yet. Or, was the Caddy also stolen?
As with most thefts, I’m sure the cops’ response is, “We’ll look into it.”
But you shouldn’t hold your breath.
What TMA1 said^
For the common good, I’m glad that she fought back and risked her own safety. I doubt there would otherwise have been repercussions for the criminals.
Myself? I wouldn’t have had the balls to do it.
Fight for a 10 year old Altima? HA! I gots full coverage… Please, please, PLEASE don’t throw me in that briar patch!
In the summer I tend to leave the car running (albeit locked) for short jaunts into stores, since I have keyless entry. I figure mast people can’t drive stick anymore anyway, and if the keys are in my pocket I can “assume” it was hot-wired… wink, wink.
Let’s see, one car is a 150k Hyundai Sonata, the other is a 2016 Silverado with GAP insurance that I have about $7k in negative equity in. Hmm, let me think. Carjack away, my friend! Just make sure you total the bitch.
I’m always surprised at would-be criminals who think they can get away with their crime in areas covered with cameras.
Well, they haven’t been caught, and I doubt it was their first theft. It was only the unexpected resistance of the victim that thwarted them. There’s probably a thousand guys within half a mile that “fit the description.”
Aside from a flash of white on the shoes, all I saw on camera was a shadow slip out of the Cadillac.
At the start of the video, the Cadillac is parked at the pumps at the next row over. They either paid for gas with a card, or someone was inside previously paying. And the plate number should be discernible via one of the cameras as well.
That presupposes they were buying gas in the first place, and not just loitering and waiting for a mark to come along. If they did use a credit card, it probably came out of the last purse they stole.
But I’m probably giving them too much credit. These guys can’t be that smart. Likely just a crime of opportunity.
And what if the license plate is from another car? At least, that what I would do. stick someone else’s lp on magnets, so I can quickly remove it. although, its true. Doing this trick in a white Camry would be better.
I think you’d be underwhelmed at their forethought and level of intelligence.
Milwaukee has some of the cleanest, nicest gas stations anywhere!
I’m 63 years old…The younger me might have put up a little resistance …With age, comes wisdom and experience.
If somebody wants my Mustang..you may even get my wallet with $25, and some credit cards. Or my I phone…As someone mentioned, cameras are everywhere. Credit cards, and I phones can be traced.
I only ask that the thieves ,either chop it up, send it to Nigeria, or burn it. After some low life has driven the pi$$, out of it and left reminders of his unwashed body, I don’t want it back.
If my car was returned me, I would have it towed to the nearest Ford dealer. The insurance can cover the necessary repairs ,and detailing. At that point I walk into the showroom, and make a deal on a new Mustang.
I simply couldn’t drive it again..It would just creep me out too much.
It depends upon the car. If it is my 2013 Honda Fit, I wouldn’t jump up on the hood because there’s no hood to speak of.
If it is my 1967 Cadillac Eldorado, I’d hop up there, get comfy, and perhaps play through a few hands of Solitaire while the would-be thief decides if he or she wants to continue down their Primrose Path.
Jump on the hood? You can take it. Hell, let me finish filling the thing up with gas and feel free to roll the thing into a ditch.
Is it normal to lock your car when you gas up? I don’t, but then I don’t live in ‘Murrica either.
That’s one of the more frightening aspects of the video. It looks to be a normal, clean gas station in what seems to be an otherwise safe area, and not some urban ghetto where keeping your vehicle locked at all times is the norm.
It’s pretty much downtown Milwaukee where this happened: google.com/maps/@43.0341146,-87.9112426,3a,60y,22.58h,85.78t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s6e8nM2Zl5HrussWUeSScUg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en
This is what insurance is for. I’d love to get retail price for my car and get a new one! Now if I had a permit to carry, which I don’t, someone would end up dead.
I don’t know. I like what she did. Everyone here seems a little bit chickens**t. I mean don’t you fight for what’s yours?
What’s the old quote?
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
We need more Clint Eastwoods in the world today…
Nah I pay State Farm a pile of money so I don’t have to fight for it.
depends on what she looks like… bada boom!
No, I’d probably just spew explitives as he stole my car. This young lady needs to develop some street smarts. A sh**box old Cadillac on the other side of the pump without a very elderly driver present should have amped her attention up. I’ve never been robbed anywhere(a man was certainly going to rob me at a drive up ATM once but I felt the situation was “off” and didn’t put my card in. I just waited and sure enough he whipped in behind me and hopped out of his car in the hopes I had punched my PIN in before I got the hell out of there) but I’ve been panhandled enough at gas stations and parking lots to pay very close attention to everything going on before proceeding with my business.
Begging and thieving are the second and third oldest professions in the world. Malcom X summed things up very neatly in his autobiography – half the people in the world do all of the real work and the other half hustle their living one way or the other off of them.
Haven’t read all the interesting comments (yet), but was her reaction showing her concern for the vehicle or the contents thereof? I would cautiously agree with some who’ve said it’s just a car, let the insurance deal with the theft. Her personal belongings are a bit different in my mind – much bigger hassle to deal with the loss of those items. The actions of the bystander are interesting. He was oblivious to the attempted theft as he was standing beside the car with the perps. Not saying he should have figured it out, but it seems he was not very observant. Wonder if he got the plate info as they drove past him?
THX 1136.. in the movie American Graffiti the yellow hot rod had the plate THX 136 on it, I think?
NOPE.
She left the keys in the car! Don’t do that and this would not have happened.
WOULD I FIGHT FOR MY CAR? Depends which car I was using.
First they would have to get the keys from me.
If they were not holding a gun or knife, I would fight.
Subarus can be replaced. Fairly easily, in fact. But you can’t drive Forest Service roads when you’re dead.