Three good Samaritans — including two Army reservists — saved a woman who was being attacked during an attempted carjacking in Camden County, New Jersey, officials said.
The incident unfolded Thursday around 8:30 a.m. on Jackson Road near the intersection of Waverly Avenue in Waterford Township. Police said a man, later identified as 45-year-old Rondean McDonald, drove his vehicle off the road and crashed into a wooded area. A 59-year-old woman who was driving by stopped and tried to help, police said. McDonald then ripped open the woman’s passenger side door and entered her car, according to investigators.
McDonald asked the victim if she could drive him but she refused, according to the criminal complaint. As the woman tried to call 911, McDonald grabbed her phone and threw it to the floor, police said. When the woman told him to get out of the car, McDonald attacked her, scratching her and placing his hands around her neck, strangling her, according to the criminal complaint.
Joseph Knazek said he witnessed the attack as it continued.
“She stood her ground but he was wrestling with her,” Knazek said. “The seatbelt was caught around her neck. He’s pulling and he’s scraping up her arms and he’s just screaming, ‘Drive! Drive!’”
Knazek said he jumped in to try and help the woman.
“So I took a hold of his wrists while trying to free her from the seatbelt just so she could get out,” Knazek said.
Two military men — both Army reservists and one of whom is a Philadelphia police officer — also noticed the attack and jumped in as well, investigators said. One of the men used a fire extinguisher to break into the driver’s side window and get McDonald out of the car, according to officials. They then restrained him until police arrived at the scene, officials said.
The victim was taken to the hospital in stable condition. McDonald, meanwhile, was arrested and charged with several offenses, including carjacking and driving while intoxicated
