Caught on video: Chicago family carjacked at gunpoint in their own driveway
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A Beverly family was carjacked at gunpoint outside their home in a brazen crime last week, and it was all caught on surveillance video.
The violent intrusion happened just steps from the family's door this past Thursday night. Two people armed with guns ran up to Michele Pettiford and her 12-year-old daughter – who had just pulled into their garage in the back of their Beverly home.
"It does happen to a just like regular family coming home from, like, a volleyball practice," Michele Pettiford said.
The attackers pushed Pettiford to the ground and demanded the car keys.
"I thought that I wasn't going to be here anymore," Pettiford said.
Pettiford remained too distraught nearly one week later to watch video footage of the robbery.
"I lived it. I don't need to see it. … I think at this point it might do more harm than good," she told CBS 2's Marissa Perlman. "I know what they did. I know that they put guns at my husband. They rushed at me with guns."
The carjacking was recorded on a Ring camera. Video footage shows Michele's husband, Jeff, walking out of their back door as the carjackers have a gun pointed at his wife.
"Every parent, if they were to hear that, their instinct would be to run toward that," Jeff Pettiford said.
And he did just that.
"The feeling and the sound; I'll never forget any of it, but that is probably going to stick around the longest," Jeff Pettiford said of hearing his wife's and daughter's terrorized screams.
Their daughter ran inside their house, shut the door, and called police as one of the criminals ran after her.
"She ran upstairs, used her phone, dialed 911. By the time we came back in, she was on the phone with 911, she handed it to me," said Jeff Pettiford. "So I knew right away how courageous she was."
The suspects became increasingly angry looking for the keys to Michele's car, as she repeatedly cried out, "They're in my purse!"
The video shows Jeff trying to de-escalate the situation by telling the carjackers to take his car parked in the driveway with the keys inside. He even helped them start his car.
The two suspects eventually jumped into his car and drove off, leaving the terrified parents on the ground in their own backyard.
"I looked at how they treated my wife and daughter – a 12-year-old – and I know that they will hurt and kill people, and they're out there now doing the same thing," Jeff said.
After watching the video, retired Chicago Police Chief of Detectives Eugene Roy said the family did the right thing: giving up their property, getting help on the way, and – above all – remaining calm in the face of terror.
"They already have a gun to your head. At that point, comply. Do your best to talk low, slow, and calm. Defuse the situation," he said.
Meanwhile, Ald. Matt O'Shea (19th) not only represents the Pettifords – he knows them.
"This is a video game to these violent offenders," O'Shea told CBS 2's Charlie De Mar. "They could have just taken the car, but they had to physically strike her point the guns at both victims in their own backyard."
So far this year, there have been 1,037 car thefts the Morgan Park (22nd) Police District - compared to 685 at this time last year. That is a 51 percent increase for the district, which includes the Beverly neighborhood.
"You shouldn't have to think about that when you're in your own backyard – just feet from your own home," O'Shea said.
Robberies across the city are up 25 percent but have decreased by 6 percent year-to-year in District 22.
The Pettifords want other families to be aware and prepared, believing this can happen anywhere.
"It happens in this beautiful small-knit community, where you feel safe. You never think it's going to happen here, and it did," Michele said.
"It's not just downtown. It's not just in certain neighborhoods. It doesn't discriminate on area anymore. It's everywhere, and so it can be you, and if we don't do something to change this, it doesn't get better, it continues to get worse," Jeff said.
The family said they're grateful for community support in the days after this traumatic event.
As of Wednesday evening, one person was placed into custody.
Police said on Wednesday afternoon, officers in an unmarked squad car spotted Jeff's stolen Audi near 97th and Oglesby, and after confirming it had been stolen, tried to pull over the car. When the driver didn't stop, police didn't chase the Audi, but later spotted it stopped near 96th and Crandon.
A witness told officers they had spotted a woman getting out of the car and walking south on Crandon. Officers spotted 24-year-old Kayla Bell, who matched the witness' description of the woman who was in the car, and arrested Bell, who has been charged with one misdemeanor count of criminal trespass to a vehicle.
Bell is not charged directly with the carjacking, and no other arrests have been made.
The investigation is ongoing.
