Video: Wash. woman carjacks pickup with two children inside
FEDERAL WAY, Wash. - Surveillance video captured a carjacking where a woman drove off with two little girls while the children's desperate mother tried to stop her.
Just after 5 p.m. on Feb. 28, a woman pulled up to a "We Buy Gold" store in her white pickup truck, reports CBS affiliate KIRO. Inside were her two daughters, ages 5 and 2.
According to the station, a disheveled woman in her 40s approached the truck and said something about needing a ride, but kept walking. The mother then got out of her truck, but left the vehicle running with the children inside - and the woman jumped in.
As the suspect threw the car into reverse and sped away, the young mother tried to run and catch it - but couldn't.
The station reports that recently released court documents describe what happened next. The suspect, 49-year-old Natalie Merriam Hulme, allegedly drove about 10 miles and stopped near the Riverbend Golf Course after something went wrong with the truck. KIRO reports that the documents reveal she threw open the door and started walking around in rush hour traffic.
According to the station, a man named Alan Leeder was driving by and saw the truck with its door open and two little girls inside. Some golfers approached the truck, and the five year old inside told them a "mean woman" had stolen them from their mom.
The golfers started yelling to Leeder to stop the woman who was "pulling on door handles, trying to get into several cars."
KIRO reports that when she found an open door she climbed in. A pregnant woman was in the car and the suspect sat on her, then started hitting her in the stomach. Leeder grabbed the suspect and pulled her out of the car and onto the sidewalk. He said her mouth was foaming and she was "out of it."
Police arrived on the scene and arrested the suspect. The mother identified her and was reunited with her young daughters.
Natalie Merriam Hulme has a record, according to KIRO, including hit and run, forgery, and theft. Now she faces kidnapping and motor vehicle theft charges; her bail was set at $200,000.