Carjacking Victim's Warning To Other Drivers

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MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - A local woman said she's thankful to be alive after two men violently carjacked her in Downtown Murfreesboro. The men are still on the loose, and she has a warning for other drivers.

Lorrie Barrett said she never thought something like this would happen to her. She wants others to have a plan in place, and she hopes her story will put those responsible, behind bars.

"I've lived here for 30 years, all my life," said Barrett.

For Barrett driving through downtown Murfreesboro was like being at home. Never before did she have a problem until the night she said two men walked up to her car asking a question.

"Ma'am can you give us a ride? You know we were just up at the club and we ran out of gas," said the men to Barrett.

She said she told them no and gave the excuse she had too much stuff in the back of her car. Then the unthinkable happened.

"Pretty much opened the door and just got in. At that point I went into survival mode because you never know what you're going to do until you're in a situation like that," said Barrett.

Barrett said she really didn't know how to react or what to do, so she just took them to a gas station, where surveillance video caught one of the suspects buying the gas.

"They never got out of my vehicle, so of course I would have known to take off, but what do you do? I tried to play it cool," said Barrett.

Barrett said she them took them to their truck, but it still didn't start. While she knew she shouldn't, she took them to another location and that was where she said she started to get nervous.

"I just didn't want them to think I would start screaming and they just throw me out of the car," said Barrett.

She said they told her to pull up into a gas station parking lot and that's when their nice attitude turned violent.

"Door flings open; I almost thought it was going to break off. He grabs me by my arms, jerks me out," said Barrett.

Barrett said the last thing she remembered were the men driving off in her car. Days later, police found her car abandoned and burned.

"I could have been lying with my car," said Barrett.

Barrett said the men never had weapons or threatened her, but she is only 4'11" and she didn't know what they would do. She said she wants this to be a testament for everyone to always lock their car doors, even if you are familiar with the area.

Police are still looking for the suspects in the case. If you know anything you're asked to call Murfreesboro crime stoppers at 893-STOP.