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Florida Mom Fights Armed Carjackers While Kids Sit In Backseat Of Vehicle [Video]

By Heather Tooley
Published on: 12:24 PST, Jan 20, 2016

A Florida mom fought off two armed carjackers while her two children sat in the backseat. The incident happened Monday evening at a gas station when two suspects rushed to a woman’s car, trying to break into it. The men weren’t expecting the reaction they got from this feisty mother.

Surveillance footage from the Tom Thumb service station in Hialeah, Florida reveals a woman pumping gas when an armed carjacker suddenly jumped into the driver’s seat, and his accomplice banging on the windows with his gun.

ABC News reports that when the mother was fighting the carjackers, she had two children in the backseat. She can be seen in the video fiercely protecting her kids from the carjackers.

At first, the carjackers approached a mini-van, but was deterred when the owner jumped in it and locked the doors. The suspects then moved to the mother’s car. One of the men made it inside the vehicle, but the woman rushed to the door, yanked it open and pulled the masked man out of the driver’s seat. Although the footage is blurry, the picture is clear. Both men ran off, unwilling to cause more of a scene at the gas station. The mom who fought off the carjackers appears unshaken after the confrontation.

Surveillance shows that the attempted carjacking happened at 10:15 p.m. Monday evening.

According to the report, three suspects were stopped by police after a brief chase. There were two males and one female, police say. Three handguns were confiscated and all three were arrested. They face charges of attempted carjacking and fleeing and eluding the police, according to the Hialeah Police Department.

Sgt. Carl Zogby of the Hialeah Police Department told ABC News that the mother’s spring to action paid off.

“The woman and her kids were unharmed,” he said.

KFSN-TV reveals that the children in the backseat of the car was the driver’s a 1-year-old daughter and a 7-year-old son. They were completely helpless as two masked suspects ran up to the woman’s car with their guns drawn.

Police say when the suspects ran off and were no longer seen on camera, they fled by getting into a getaway vehicle. Authorities then chased after the carjackers after being scared off by the mom.

Police reveal that the suspects are 19-year-old Nicholas Rosado, 21-year-old Rebecca Utria, and a 17-year-old Juan Carlos Gonzalez. Officials say that Utria served as the getaway driver as Rosado and the teen tried carjacking the victims.

There were no reported injuries following the carjacking, according to the report.

Local 10 reports that the suspects made their first court appearance on Wednesday following the attempted carjackings. Rosado is being held on $10,000 bail, Utria faces a higher bond since she fled from police while driving the getaway car, and Gonzalez is in juvenile detention.

Sgt. Zogby was amazed at how the mom fought off the carjackers and successfully managed to scare them away.

“She’s able to drag him out of the car while the other one on the other side runs away like a coward,” Zogby said. “They both end up running away.”

It apparently took police only 5 minutes to catch up with Utria and the other suspects after she crashed the getaway car.

Police say Gonzalez and Rosado have confessed to the attempted carjackings.

This mom who fought the carjackers is the epitome of bravery when it came to defending her kids!

[Photo Credit: CCTV screenshot via YouTube]

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