Woman Bails Out of Moving Car to Escape Carjacker

Aug. 22, 2007 — -- An Indiana woman's quick thinking and 911 call may have saved her life when she was briefly held captive at knife point in her car during a carjacking.

Cidney Smith, 21, got into her car Aug. 10 in broad daylight in the parking lot of Indianapolis' Castleton Square Mall, where she was purchasing a gift for a friend.

As she put the key into the ignition and was about to close the door, a carjacker crept up behind her and forced Smith into the passenger's side, holding a knife to her throat.

"I just knew that I needed to stay calm and do what he said," Smith said on "Good Morning America" today. But she said internally she knew she had to get away.

As the assailant prepared to drive off, he told Smith to be quiet and keep out of sight. Smith said that the man kept trying to recline her seat, which doesn't move, and that he had trouble figuring out how to use her car's stick shift.

"He was very nervous so that made me believe he hadn't done this before," Smith said. "I just knew that I needed to call 911."

As the two continued toward Interstate 465, Smith secretly dialed 911 on her cell phone through her purse's fabric. She made an effort to repeat everything that was going on so the operator could hear her.

A 911 transcript documented her efforts to signal she was in trouble.

Smith: Are you going to rape me? Are you going to kill me?
Man: No, I'm not a rapist. I robbed somebody.

As they drove away, Smith questioned the man about his intentions. He declined money, saying he just had stolen a lot of money and planned to drop Smith off after he used her car for a getaway.

For minute after harrowing minute, the 911 call reveals Smith's continued dialog with her kidnapper as she tried to give clues to the authorities.

Smith: Are you going to keep my red Volkswagen?
Man: Yes.
Smith: And we're gonna to be taking 86th Street? Where are we going?
911 dispatcher: 86th Street?
Man: Out of Castleton. Are you that desperate?

Eventually, the man discovered what Smith was doing and took her phone and placed it on his lap.

Then, Smith said she become more scared. The man was driving erratically in bumper-to-bumper traffic and she didn't hear any sirens.

"I knew then I had to do something else," Smith said. "I have to get out somehow."