Woman trapped in backseat during carjacking; suspect leads cops on chase, crashes

MILTON, Wash. -- There were some terrifying moments for a woman trapped in the backseat of her friend’s car after it was stolen by a carjacker. He led police on a chase throughout King County, and only surrendered after crashing into a ditch.

“Things like this don’t happen in real life, this is the weirdest thing,” says Lindsay Nemeyer.

She is still in shock over what happened when she stopped at a convenience store near Federal Way Sunday afternoon. When she went inside, a man jumped into her running car and took off. Her friend, Sabrina Westfall, was in the backseat of the car.

She says she thought the man was a friend of Lindsay’s, at first. “Pretty quickly I realized he wasn’t, because he was driving really crazy."

Lindsay immediately called 911. When Federal Way police spotted her car near Crossroads Mall around 45 minutes later, they began a pursuit. It ended in Milton when the carjacker lost control of the car and ended up in a ditch. Amazingly, Sabrina was not injured in the crash.

“I’m just glad to be alive, because I really thought I was going to die.”

King County investigators say the man will likely be charged with robbery and kidnapping. Federal Way police are also looking into the possibility that he was involved in a home invasion and assault before the carjacking.

“Karma is not very good,” Lindsay says. “I thought my friend was going to die. Who cares about the car? I was just worried about her.”

She says she’ll never leave her car running, even if she just steps away for a minute. Investigators say that should be a lesson for everyone.

“My advice would be make sure when you’re not with your vehicle, it’s off and locked,” says Sgt. Christopher Myers with the King County Sheriff’s Office.