Pregnant woman assaulted while trying to stop car thieves

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — A pregnant woman who tried to stop thieves from stealing her car was kicked and knocked to the ground, then further injured as she gripped the hood while the car drove off.

She had a scraped face and was holding her stomach, shook up and struggling to catch her breath, as she attempted to tell police what happened the evening of Jan. 13, according to a warrant that recently became available.

Police say in the warrant the suspects — including two teens — are either members of the East Side Bakers or Third Ave Bakersfield street gangs, the latter focused on illegal street takeovers and sideshows.

The suspects “are involved in numerous organized serial auto thefts,” police say.

The January theft happened on Treanna Avenue in southwest Bakersfield.

Upon hearing her car alarm, the woman went outside and saw the vehicle’s sunroof broken and a teen inside, she said according to the warrant. The teen passed a backpack to another person near a Dodge Charger as she confronted him.

As she approached, she could see the teen had either a phone or some type of scanner device to start her car without a key, according to the warrant. She told him to get out — telling him she was pregnant — and he responded by kicking her leg and pushing her, knocking her down, she told police.

He started the car and she hung onto the hood. That didn’t deter him.

The thief made rapid turning movements and kept braking and accelerating until she was thrown then hit by the vehicle, according to the warrant. Two of the teen suspects were later found, the warrant says.

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