LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Melanie McDermott saw her car five days after it was taken from her at gunpoint by at least three people.
Police found it on Preston highway, but the crime occurred in Lyndon. "The vehicle's absolutely trashed. It doesn't even feel like mine anymore," she said.
It happened when McDermott left work. She came out to her car and saw another vehicle moving in the parking lot. "Two people got out of the car," she recalled, "one went around to my driver's side. The other came around the car to me on the passenger's side and put a gun in my face and said 'give me everything now.'"
Lyndon's police chief, Rob Schroeder, said carjackings in the area are uncommon, and that LMPD was working with his department on the investigation into McDermott's case. LMPD data shows 93 carjackings this year. That's down from 147 this time last year.
Although carjackings have decreased, it's still a traumatizing crime. Unlike a car theft, carjackings involve violence or the threat of violence. On an episode LMPD's podcast, Sergeant Justin Stillwell offered advice for someone facing the situation. "You should never lose your life over your vehicle," he said, "it's a piece of property. Do what you can to keep yourself safe, your loved ones, if you're with your family, and cooperate to the best of your ability."
That's exactly what McDermott did, and it's guidance she agreed with. "After going through something like this, the most important thing is I'm here in one piece and I'm with my family," she said.
Even with the car returned, some things were missing—pictures of McDermott's children, their toys, and a car seat. Those, she noted, are replaceable, but a life isn't.
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