Senator's daughter is carjacked
Washington (CNN) - Sen. Bob Corker said Thursday that his daughter is fine but "really sore" after being pulled from her car and thrown to the ground in a carjacking in the nation's capital Wednesday night.
The Tennessee Republican said his 22-year-old daughter, Julia, stopped the family's 2005 Chevy Tahoe not far from their apartment - just nine blocks from the U.S. Capitol building - to help someone she thought needed directions.
"A gentleman appeared, opened the door, grabbed her by the neck," the senator said. "She kicked to try to get away ... and he threw her on the pavement and drove away."
Corker credited the vehicle's OnStar system with helping to locate it, and the suspects were taken into custody a short time later in a parking lot in Seat Pleasant, Maryland.
"It's pretty incredible how quickly they were able to apprehend" the suspects, the senator said. The two people in the car were taken into custody by police in Seat Pleasant after OnStar determined their exact location and showed that the vehicle was not moving, Corker explained.
The Seat Pleasant authorities were notified by OnStar that the stolen car was in their jurisdiction, and were provided the description and tag number of the vehicle, Seat Pleasant Police Sgt. Leroy Patterson told CNN.
"The officers just searched and they saw a vehicle matching that description," Patterson said, adding that the two suspects were taken to a Maryland station to be interviewed by Metropolitan Police detectives. The Metropolitan department "will handle the actual charges, because the incident happened in Washington, D.C.," Patterson explained.
The senator praised the work of the Metropolitan Police the U.S. Capitol Police, the FBI and the Seat Pleasant Police.
He also admitted that he often thought about canceling the OnStar service subscription.
"I was telling the lady who handles that for me in Chattanooga, each month I was saying, 'I don't want to pay this, I don't want to pay this,'" Corker said, adding that it was a nominal fee.
But he kept the service, "thinking that maybe OnStar would be of some help" someday, Corker said.
"Certainly it paid off tremendously last night," he said.
Updated: 5:10 p.m.
Follow Mark Preston on Twitter: @prestonCNN
–CNN's Ted Barrett contributed to this report.
Well, I hope this once again bring up this subject and reminds drivers not to ever roll the window down, especially at nightime, to strangers. Big mistake.
WOW. FBI for the elite.
Wow ... stopped at a red light ... 9:00 at night in downtown D.C. ... someone knocks on your window and you ... roll the window down??
Mr. Corker's daughter obviously wasn't raised in anything resembling the "real America" that the rest of us live in.
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Thanks for Having ON STAR ,
Amazing too bad they do not do this for the normal public.
ahhhh poor girl
Its interesting to note that in DC you cant have hand guns. Or at least couldn't. Im not sure about their carry laws, but im pretty sure you cant. Either way she shouldn't have rolled the window down.
Not trying to be mean to the daughter, but seriously, how dumb is it to roll down your car window for some stranger on the street?
Sorry to hear about it BUT opening a window for someone you don't know and at night is not smart! I don't even do that as a male!'
There are carjackings everyday across the U.S. I don't even see why this should be newsworthy.
If she'd had a sign on her car saying "My Daddy is a Senator," she would never have been carjacked. Bet they're sorry now!
These two criminals need to have the book thrown at them.
But, honestly, who rolls down their window when some skellum approaches their vehicle and knocks?
Perhaps she can call across town and ask the Attorney General if this classifies as a "hate-crime."
The young lady obviously should have used more common sense... a person should never roll down their car window more than a slight crack if someone taps on it. She's lucky she wasn't seriously hurt or worse!
Your ratings really suck teabags.
Okay this is a note to anyone. DO NOT roll your window down for anybody! (I'm even skeptical of most police officers after they pull me over.)
Photon Torpedo
It's good to know she drives a GM vehicle. At least some of our leaders are supporting our domestic industries.
Why would you roll your window down for a random person knocking on your window?? Everyone here in DC knows not to do something stupid like that.
While I feel sorry for her.... it was her own fault
Thank god she is al right. however the retuglicans are the ones who are responsible for the economic crisis we are in people do not have
jobs so they resort to stealing which is wrong to make ends meet.I wish it was the senator and not his daughter.
I, of course, do not want to see anyone get hurt. But, why can't the police catch a carjacker of an everyday Joe? I mean if my car was car jacked and I was thrown to the pavement (essentially unharmed), would the "Metropolitan Police Department, U.S. Capitol Police and the FBI quickly responded to the incident?" I doubt it.
Sounds like a good advertisement for OnStar if you ask me. I'll be getting the system installed as soon as I can.
I'm glad she's O-K. I hope this taught her that she should NEVER roll down her window when somebody knocks. Or at least roll it down far enough so you could hear what the person wants.
Best Wishes to Julia and the Corker family
Is this the first time a car has ever been hijacked in DC?
Must be if it is newsworthy to put on the ticker!!!
Being a resident in the state of TN, I only ask ... why in the world...this violent world...would she lower her window to a stranger? Was she never taught the rules of the real world? Is she that naive? I am very happy that she is safe and I hope the two that were arrested are the ones who violated her rights are the found guilty and punished accordingly... But...most of all I hope she learned a lesson. The world is no longer safe. Sad.......