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A mom in California is being hailed as a hero after encountering two thieves leaving her apartment in southwestern Los Angeles. Not only did she chase them down, the smashed out their getaway car’s back window with her bare hands. Of course, much of the incident was caught on video.
What happened?
Kiara Ortiz said she was pulling up to her home after picking up lunch on Saturday when one of her sons asked her who the men were exiting their residence. She said it didn’t take her long to put two and two together and spring into action.
“We were driving up with lunch getting ready to get home and eat and when we were coming out of the car my son immediately said, ‘Who is that?’ and when I looked over I saw one of them with my kid’s piggy bank,” Ortiz told ABC 7 News.
The first thing she said he did when she realized her home had been robbed was to begin recording with her phone and start chasing after the burglars. The thieves eventually made it to a dark green BMW with a getaway driver inside that was parked nearby.
Ortiz, a personal trainer, said, “I saw the guy kind of reach over for something, so I backed up a little bit went around the car and hit the windshield, the window.” After punching a hole in the window with her bare hand, she said the car sped off, almost hitting another car in the process.
The aftermath
One of her sons was able to get the license plate of the BMW, but police said that it had been switched from another vehicle so they couldn’t identify it.
The thieves ended up getting away with her jewelry, about $100 in cash, her son’s piggy bank, and a handgun, which the burglars got from a lockbox in her bedroom that they had pried open.
“I am just grateful that my family is okay, it could have gone so bad,” she said, adding that she feels “very violated, very angry” about the incident.
“This type of crime is concerning,” the Torrance Police Department said in a statement. “We encourage community members to remain vigilant and report any suspicious behavior or activity to the Torrance Police Department promptly.” Especially if they see a dark green BMW with a shattered back window.