U-Haul Truck Allegedly Carjacked In Victorville
VICTORVILLE (CBSLA.com) — An apparent carjacking of a U-Haul truck outside the Rodeway Inn in Victorville resulted in a woman being run over as the vehicle sped away.
The man who had the U-Haul stolen told CBS2 that he tried to chase after it and got thrown to the ground when the truck hit a tree.
"I tried to do what I could to get them to stop," said Earl Turner. "That's not what I thought was going to happen."
Turner said he was about to leave the motel Monday afternoon, when he remembered something in his room. So he went in, then came out and saw someone about to drive off in his U-Haul.
"I ran downstairs as fast as I could," said Turner. "I jumped and grabbed the door."
He got thrown when the driver hit a big tree in the parking lot. But he said that another woman was holding onto the side of the truck and her injuries were far more serious.
"He pulled off," said Turner. "I watched the girl go under the car. I heard her scream and then for two seconds, nothing after that."
Turner doesn't know who the woman was but he thinks that she was trying to steal the truck along with the driver. He said it looked like she was pregnant, but the driver left her behind.
"He didn't even care. That's messed up man," said Turner.
Police found the U-Haul half-a-mile away, but they haven't said whether they've found the suspect yet.
A man staying at the motel who witnessed the incident said that a woman was left on the ground after the crash and it looked like she had been run over.
"All I heard was a big boom. Came out of my room. That's all I heard," said the witness. "I see on the video the lady just laying there."
The woman was taken to the hospital along with another man who got thrown after trying to chase after the truck. Police are not releasing any information about the condition of the two or how they might be related to the crime.
Security camera video appears to show the woman walking into the motel parking lot with the man who drove off in the truck. Police were not releasing that video as of Monday night.
People who live in the apartment complex next door said they had noticed the truck in the parking lot.
"Just on the other side, there's been a U-Haul parked there for a couple days," said neighbor Sebastian Guerra. "You don't think anything of it. Just someone trying to move cross-country."
They're hoping no one was seriously injured and that the person responsible is found soon.
Turner said he was about to pack up the truck, so he didn't lose too much.
"Everything I own is still in storage, so thank God nothing I really needed got stolen," said Turner. "And thank God I'm alive."