2 U.S. Army Reserve members help stop carjacking, assault of a woman in South Jersey
Two U.S. Army Reserve members intervened and prevented a carjacking in progress in South Jersey on Thursday morning, local authorities say.
The two men restrained another man who had tried to steal a woman's car and was assaulting her, the Camden County Prosecutor's Office said in a news release.
Prosecutor Grace MacAulay and Waterford Township police Chief Daniel Cormaney said the incident began when 45-year-old Rondean McDonald, of Mays Landing, crashed a vehicle in a wooded area off Jackson Road near Waverly Avenue in the township sometime after 8 a.m.
McDonald then allegedly attacked and strangled a 59-year-old woman from Lindenwold, who was driving a different vehicle. He ripped open the locked passenger side door and demanded to be driven out of the area, assaulting the woman when she did not drive away, according to the officials.
That's when the military members passed by, noticed the assault and began to help the woman.
One man used a fire extinguisher to break a window of the woman's vehicle and then pull McDonald out. The Good Samaritans then restrained McDonald until officers could arrive.
Other passersby stopped by to help and called 911, according to police.
The woman was taken to a nearby hospital and is in stable condition.
McDonald was also taken to a hospital and is now in custody in the Camden County Correctional Facility. He's charged with first-degree carjacking and kidnapping, as well as aggravated assault and criminal mischief.
McDonald is awaiting a detention hearing on the charges in Camden County Superior Court.