Victim Of Terrifying Oxford Circle Attack Speaks Out
By Elizabeth Hur
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – A woman who survived being attacked, kidnapped and robbed is speaking out, explaining she had to plead with her attacker not to take her life.
On surveillance footage, you can not only see how frightened the woman was, but you can hear it in her voice. Her screams for help are saved on her cell phone.
"When you dial your number on the intercom, it rings your phone," the victim recalls. "So my phone was ringing and I was screaming for someone to hear me and that was saved as voicemail."
It happened Sunday night when the victim returned home to her Oxford Circle apartment in the 6000 block of Roosevelt Boulevard (see previous story).
Surveillance cameras were rolling as she was followed into the entrance of her apartment by a stranger who demanded money. She says she gave him everything she had but the suspect wanted more and dragged the victim back out to her car.
"At the time he grabbed me, I was talking to somebody, so he said, 'Call your friend and tell him what's going on and he has to bring the money,'" she says. "When he was in the car with me, he said, 'You know I have a gun and I blow your head, I blow his head if he's coming with police.'"
For the next 40 minutes, the victim says she was driven around the city waiting for her friend to arrive with the money.
"That's when I'm trying to convince him, don't kill me," she remembers.
The victim says she feared for her life, but she believes she managed to talk the suspect into letting her go – after returning to the apartment and picking up cash from her friend.
"He said he's got a problem, he's got a family. The only thing I tell him, I'm going to pray for him," the woman says.
The suspect did drive off with the victim still in her car, but she says he let her out at the end of the block then fled in an unknown direction.
Police say they recovered the victim's car, abandoned, near the victim's apartment the next day.
Police describe the suspect as a Hispanic male, 20 years-of-age, 5'8", 180 lbs., muscular build, wearing a gray or green shirt around his face, and long blue jean shorts.
To view the surveillance video: Visit The Philadelphia Police YouTube Channel or visit phillypolice.com/news.
Police say if you see this suspect do not approach him, contact 911 immediately or submit a tip via telephone, dial 215.686.TIPS (8477) or text a tip to PPD TIP or 773847.
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