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.
If Ms. Corker wishes to recuperate in Canada, a country her father disparaged not long ago, she's most welcome.
Up here, carjackings are (thankfully) less frequent.
We'll send "daddy" the bill later:-)
Glad she's ok. Perhaps the good senator will now push to end all probation, diversion, parole, suspended sentences and for the strict enforcement of all three strikes laws. Chances are these characters have a lengthy rap sheet and have been given more than enough chances to change.
I'm glad the young lady is okay but i have to ask, if it was an ordinary citizen would the three agencies(especially) the FBI would have responded so quickly. We have carjackings in this country every minute and the Fbi don't get involved. Truely i understand the situation and again i'm glad she is okay but the answer stands.
Thank You,
It is unfortunate that this kind of thing happened. It would be great if they around time for car jackings in D.C. could be this quick. It seems that just because it was a senator's daughter every law enforcement detail was put on alert. This type of response should be for all citizens of this country.
The FBI was involved due the interstate nature of the crime, as the crime occured in DC and the suspects were caught in Maryland; not because the crime involved a Senator's daughter.
Hope you Libs can whip up some more ill sentiment at the misfortune of a Republican Senator's family. That makes you look absoulutely stellar.
Let's not blame the victim. Okay, she rolled down the window. That doesn't give someone the right to assault her and take her car.
"America has 5% of the world's population and 25% of the world's prisoners."
Dont forget: and 100% of the world's neocon morons.
Too bad they didnt take corker too. He's a disgusting human being.
If DC had gun laws more like Virginia, that young woman would've been able to defend herself instead of getting carjacked and roughed up like that. Unfortunately, DC's gun laws are too much like California's and New York City's laws, so this sort of carjacking happens on a regular basis here. That doesn't happen so much over in Virginia, where law-abiding citizens can actually defend themselves from such criminals.
Washington DC. Murder Captial of the USA as well. Thankfully she didn't face a far worse fate!
I am glad the young lady is alright. Regardless of political preference no one should be so heartless as some of these comments posted. I thought as Americans we are better than that but I guess I am wrong. I am praying for those of you who are so mean and for our country.
Im glad she is okay but really who rolls down the window for a stranger at night? sounds like someone didnt do a great job at parenting.
While I'm sure everyone hopes his daugher is okay, Bob Corker is a first-class jerk. He slandered his opponent's race to get elected in 2006. Tennessee is apparently a state where that little tactic is still legitimate. There's a joke about karma and car jacking in here somewhere, I've leave it to you to think of a punchline.
Seriously considering getting OnStar in my vehicle as well!
us regular folk that aren't rich and famous already know don't roll down the window or unlock the doors in the city...also been mugged before and pulled from the car, doesn't take long to learn how to survive
Glad she's ok. Now if we can just get the FBI to help the republicans past health care, from the health care jacking.
I am glad that she is safe. I imagine Sen. Corker would have been beside himself if she had been seriously injured. Sen. Corker, other parents have children who are threatened by illness and may die without proper healthcare. How are you going to vote in the bill?
I'm a bit confused by the people that are putting the blame on gun control. Most people would not have the time to grab their gun to defend themselves in a situation like this, she didn't even have time to hit the gas pedal. Reality check anyone?
Politics is a wonderful thing, it lets us forget that we are all humans. If something terrible happens to a democrat the republicans laugh, if something terrible happens to a republican the democrats laugh. Ignorance is everywhere and in both parties. You are all a bunch of tools.
OnStar if you want to believe it, glad she's safe. The whole police department was probably working around the clock because of who her daddy is.
The best ON STAR protect is a 357 Magnum
You guys may all think that Corker is an idiot but isn't he the one that ask the CEO's of the car companies how they got to DC did they fly their private company jets? I bet you all said yah to that one.
"Dont forget: and 100% of the world's neocon morons."
Neocons are left of center. They have more in common with Blue dogs and RINOS then the right.
They have nothing in common with conservatives. That's not what the "con" in neocon means.
But they are morons.....but most people left of center are.
I'm surprised no one here has blamed GW for this too...
All the proof one needs of the idiocy of left is to read some of these comments. I be their tune would change if a Kennedy were involved!