Woman held at gunpoint on Everett walking trail scares off alleged attacker
EVERETT - A woman was held at gunpoint at a popular Everett walking trail and is sharing her terrifying story to help others jog safely.
"I just looked up and that's when it hit - oh my god, what do I do now," Francis Mendoza told WBZ-TV.
Scared and alone, Mendoza returned to the trail where she was held at gunpoint on June 1.
"He had walked across, and he had pointed the gun at me," she said.
Mendoza doesn't typically jog alone, but she didn't want to let a sunny day go to waste. When she set out for her run at the Northern Strand Trail, something quickly caught her eye.
"When I walked here, I can see a man standing over there. It's pretty far," she showed WBZ-TV. "I just remember thinking this doesn't feel right. This just does not feel right."
She FaceTimed her husband, but in a matter of seconds, the suspect identified by police as Samuel Claros had a gun to Mendoza's face.
She was alone and paralyzed in fear.
"He just said go, pointing to the bushes telling me go and he never once removed the gun away from my face," Mendoza explained. "I didn't say much. Just saying 'no,' and backing up. It's scary."
She saw another jogger in the distance - knowing it was now or never to escape.
"I have to yell; I have to say something. I saw the guy - I yelled for help. When he turned around, he saw the guy. He got scared and he ran into the bushes where he told me to go."
Mendoza's husband was still on the phone and called 911, relaying all of the details to police as it was happening. Everett Police arrested Claros minutes later near the trail.
"The individual that was involved immediately was looked at as a suspect in an armed robbery the night before. That individual is the same person and they've now been charged in both incidents," said Chief Steven Mazzie.
Chief Mazzie described the Northern Strand as a busy trail and says attacks like these are rare, but people shouldn't ignore the risks.
"If the hair on the back of your neck goes up, there's a reason it's going up and go with those instincts," he said.
Mazzie says a victim should never comply with their attacker.
"We encourage people to make noise, to yell to scream and to fight," Mazzie said. "Not go with somebody."
That's exactly what Mendoza did. As the weather warms up, she has this message for anyone jogging - especially by themselves.
"You think it's not going to happen to you until it does. Until it does, you don't know what to do, but - you have to avoid traveling alone," Mendoza said.
