Pregnant woman attacked while trying to stop car thieves

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

She had a scratched face and was holding her stomach, shaking and struggling to catch her breath, as she tried to tell police what happened on the evening of Jan. 13, according to a newly released warrant.

Police say in the warrant that the suspects – including two teenagers – are members of either the East Side Bakers or Third Ave Bakersfield street gangs, the latter of which focus on illegal street takeovers and sideshows.

The suspects “are involved in numerous organized serial car thefts,” police said.

The January robbery took place on Treanna Avenue in southwest Bakersfield.

Hearing her car alarm, the woman got out and saw the vehicle’s sunroof smashed and a teenager inside, she said, according to the warrant. The teenager 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 a scanner-type device to start her car without a key, the warrant said. She asked him to come out — telling him she was pregnant — and he responded by kicking her in the leg and pushing her, causing her to fall, she told police.

He started the car and it hung on the hood. That didn’t deter him.

The thief made sudden turns and continued to brake and accelerate until she was thrown and struck by the vehicle, the warrant said. Two of the teenage suspects were later found, the warrant said.