Watch CBS News

'I Didn't Know They Would Jump In And Try To Save Me': Brave Chicago Girls Fight Off Carjackers

CHICAGO (CBS) -- A Chicago mom is attacked by carjackers and the scary moments are captured on camera as her two young daughters helped her escape.

CBS 2's Marissa Perlman reports from Roseland on Chicago's South Side. The Parker family Ring video showed the terrifying moments as Taneisha Parker and her two daughters pull up to park outside their South Calumet Avenue home.

Suddenly, you see two teenage boys across the street wearing some sort of mask. One runs up and starts attacking the mother of two.

"As soon as he walked up, he had his hand in his pants and he was like 'I don't want to kill you' and he started grabbing for my purse and we started tussling," Parker said.

As she is screaming for help,  her youngest daughter, 10-year-old Jay jumps in, using her lunchbox to hit her mom's attacker then 15-year-old Gwendolyn drops her backpack and runs back through their gate to help her mom.

'I didn't know I would react the way I would react. I didn't know they would jump in and try to save me," Parker said, who added that she's lucky that the suspected carjackers didn't have a weapon.

Within minutes, they run off without anything but her house keys. She credits her daughters for stepping in and scaring off her attackers.

"I honestly think because of them intervening that the boys backed off. Maybe they didn't want a part of harming a woman and her two little kids," Parker said.

They live on the Chatham and Roseland border and data shows that so far this year, there have been five total carjackings in both neighborhoods combined, not including this latest incident. The Parkers are moving forward with more awareness on their block and with the knowledge this could have ended differently.

"We are the primary targets of a lot of these crimes," lamented Parker.

Police said both of the suspects fled south on Calumet. Thankfully none of the Parkers were hurt, but CPD is investigating. While those two girls were brave, Chicago police advise you to never resist a carjacking, to value your life over your property.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.