Staff writer
A 43-year-old Hickory woman told South Strabane Township police that she was carjacked Saturday night and held against her will for almost 12 hours.
The victim told police Officer Aaron Vanatta that she was driving her boyfriend's car, a beige, four-door 1999 Pontiac Bonneville, about 9 p.m. on Berry Road near the soccer fields on her way to Strabane Square.
She noticed two people standing on the road. As she slowed to pass, she heard a thump and thought that one of them had kicked the car as she drove by.
The Hickory woman stopped the car. Two people, a white man in his early 30s wearing blue jeans and a black hooded shirt and a black or biracial woman in her 20s wearing blue jeans and a red hooded shirt with black front teeth, jumped into the car.
The suspects demanded money. The man claimed that she had hit him with the car. When the victim told them she had no money, they threatened to kill her if she did not get any.
The man grabbed her purse and took out her driver's license. He told her to drive to her home, and she again said she had no money. She told the two she knew where her boyfriend had some money at his business in Houston.
While driving to Houston, she got her cell phone out to call 911, but the man grabbed it from her and threw it out the window. The victim's boyfriend found it on Hickory Ridge Road near Washington County Health Center, Chartiers Township.
The victim also said they ripped the center console out of the car and threw it out. That was found by Chartiers police off Western Avenue (Route 519).
Once she got to her boyfriend's business, she went inside while the two suspects stayed in the vehicle. There, she got more than $700, came back and gave it to them. She told police that she did not call for help since they knew where she lived.
They then drove back to Washington and may have been in the Jollick Manor area. She said the man kept making calls and told her to drive to Bentleyville. There, they forced her to take some drugs. She believed they were pills, but she was not sure. She also said the man fondled her.
They drove back to Washington, where she dropped off the two suspects near Jollick Manor at sunrise. They kept her purse, which contained prescription drugs and $200.
The victim was found later that morning back at her boyfriend's Houston business. He contacted police.
No weapon was seen by the victim.
Township police Detective John Bruner advised against stopping in such a case.
"Instead, drive to a safe location and call 911," he said. "Do not confront the subject."
Anyone who might have seen the car or know anything of the incident is asked to call township police at 724-225-8111.