New York Mother Fights Back And Stops Man From Stealing Her SUV

A mother from New York City had enough of people messing with her SUV, so when her five-year-old son saw a man trying to steal it, she jumped into action. Tihisha Jones pulled the thief from the driver's seat and detained him until the police arrived. Jones said that she had used a remote starter to warm her car up before she drove her son to school, and that the thief was messing with the ignition trying to get it to move. 

"I had to take matters into my own hands because I work, I saved to get that car myself," Jones told ABC 7. "I'm a single parent, I saved to get that, I saved."

Another person recorded the incident from an apartment across the street and shared it on social media. 

Jones can be seen standing over the car thief, identified as 19-year-old Bernardino Santiago, as she called the police. He sat on the ground with his hands over his head, and at one point, Jones starts hitting him and removes his shirt. 

"He's lucky I didn't kill him," Jones told News 4 New York. "That's the thing. He's lucky I didn't kill him."

Police arrived and took Santiago into custody. He told the officers that he thought the car was his Uber, but they did not believe him. 

Santiago was charged with attempted grand larceny, petit larceny and criminal possession of stolen property.