Deputies: Woman jumps from moving vehicle to escape knife-wielding kidnapper — then pounds on doors in middle of night until she's rescued



A woman jumped from a moving vehicle in southwest Washington state to escape from her knife-wielding kidnapper early Saturday morning — and then pounded on doors until a family helped her and contacted authorities, KPTV-TV reported, citing the Clark County sheriff’s office.

What went down?

The woman was in her vehicle in Vancouver, Washington, when a man approached and asked her for water, the sheriff's office told KPTV.

She gave the man water and let him enter her vehicle, and then he threatened her with a knife and took control of her vehicle, authorities told the station.

The suspect then drove to Camas, KPTV said — about 14 miles east of Vancouver. When the suspect slowed down along a dirt road, the victim jumped out and began knocking on doors of homes in the area, the sheriff's office told the station.

Around 4:30 a.m., a 911 caller reported that a woman was banging on the door of the caller's home, saying she had been kidnapped, KPTV reported.

Caitlin Martin and her husband, Jamie Woods, told the station they thought someone was trying to break into their house and hurt them and their children.

Image source: YouTube screenshot

What's more, their 12-year-old daughter Addison was sleeping on a couch just feet from the door, the station said.

“I was shocked because I heard, like, banging on the door and the dogs barking,” Addison explained to KPTV. “And scared because I thought someone was trying to break in, and I saw my dad walk out and [talk] to her."

Image source: YouTube screenshot

Woods — who took video of the woman outside his home — told the station he was skeptical about her story at first but soon realized she was afraid and needed help.

Image source: YouTube screenshot

He recounted to KPTV that the alleged kidnapper actually drove by his house when he was talking to the woman.

“A white SUV KIA stopped at the stop sign for a couple of seconds and then took off,” Woods told the station. “She grappled on to me for comfort saying, ‘Oh my God, there he is, he’s gonna kill me!'"

Image source: YouTube screenshot

Deputies arrived at the home to take care of the woman, KPTV said.

“Police told us later on the next day that she was, in fact, kidnapped," Martin told the station. "Then I was fairly happy that my husband was calm in the situation and made sure she was okay. But it was a scary situation.”

Image source: YouTube screenshot

Woods added to KPTV that he's "just glad that nobody was hurt, nobody was killed. At the end of the day, everybody was safe for the most part."

The sheriff's office told ABC News the female victim won't be identified at this time.

Captured!

Deputies located the victim’s vehicle after a search, the station said, adding that the suspect initially stopped but then took off to Vancouver, sparking an 11-minute pursuit just after 5 a.m. The pursuit ended when deputies, along with Vancouver police, pinned the vehicle when it came to a stop, KPTV said.

The sheriff’s office told the station the suspect refused to identify himself and that deputies were working on getting his name. The suspect was booked into Clark County jail on charges of first-degree kidnapping, first-degree robbery, attempt to elude, and reckless driving, KPTV said.

Camas family become unexpected saviors in alleged kidnappingyoutu.be

Actor Bradley Cooper reveals he was held at knifepoint in NYC while picking up toddler from school: '[I'd] gotten way, way too comfortable in the city'



Actor Bradley Cooper recently revealed his personal harrowing experience of being held at knifepoint while on his way to pick up his child at her New York City school.

He was unhurt in the incident.

What are the details?

Cooper told fellow actor Dax Shepard during a recent "Armchair Expert" podcast that he was traveling the subway system of New York City en route to pick up his daughter from her downtown school when he was accosted by a stranger and held at knifepoint.

Citing his complacency as a reason for not being more aware, Cooper said that he simply had "gotten way, way too comfortable in the city" prior to the incident.

"My guard was down," he admitted.

"I used to walk around New York City all the time with [headphones] on — this was pre-pandemic," Cooper recalled. "I was on the subway, 11:45 to pick Lea up downtown at Russian school, and I got held up at knifepoint."

Cooper said that he "felt somebody coming up" and approaching him, and he initially believed it to be a fan requesting a photo.

"I'm up against the post like it's 'The French Connection' or some s**t and then I, like, turned," he said. "I looked down and I see a knife. ... I remember thinking, 'Oh, it's a nice knife.'"

Cooper said that he was still wearing his headphones when he felt the person approach him.

"I’m just listening to music," he said. "So it's scored, the whole thing is scored. ... I see the person's eyes and I'm taken by how young they are."

At that point, Cooper was able to get off of the subway and began running away from the suspect.

"I jumped over the turnstile, hid around the white, tiled foyer entrance to the subway, took my phone out," he recalled. "He jumped over, running away, and I took a photo of him. Then I chased him up the stairs. He started running up Seventh Avenue. I took two more photographs of him."

Cooper said that he was able to grab the attention of two nearby police officers and told them of his experience on the subway.

"I ran down two police officers in an SUV, showed them the photograph, and I’m, like, talking to them, and the guy kept saying — it was so interesting — he’s like, 'Are you stabbed?' I was like, 'No, no, no.' And he goes, ‘No, check to see if you’re stabbed,’" he continued. "What happens is people gets stabbed and they're in shock. I looked to see if he was right. It was crazy."