A woman has come in for high praise this week, for throwing her body onto the bonnet of her friend’s car in an attempt to thwart a thief driving off with her baby.
The unnamed mother is reported to have pulled up outside her child’s school in Melbourne, and stepped out of her car to speak to her friend, Eloca Arafe, on Tuesday.
The woman left the car running, with the windows wound down and her six-month-old daughter in the backseat.
While the two women were chatting, Gurkan Yildirim is alleged to have snuck into the car via a window.
The 24-year-old man is then accused of winding the windows up and starting the car, attempting to drive away.
CCTV captured footage of the mother and Eloca hitting the car, before Eloca eventually jumped onto the bonnet in an attempt to stop Yildirim from driving off.
Video: There's a baby inside' - Aussie woman jumps on bonnet of moving car in valiant attempt to stop alleged thief. https://t.co/qNqacoFzD7 pic.twitter.com/eH4YDnkPfa
— 1 NEWS (@1NewsNZ) November 11, 2016
Yildirim kept going, eventually crashing into another vehicle, throwing Eloca clean from the bonnet.
While Eloca's attempt didn’t stop Yildirim, the mother’s car was later found close by, with the baby safe and sound inside.
Yildirim was arrested shortly after, but he is pleading not guilty to the five charges levelled against him – including kidnap.
Woman who clung to the bonnet of a car, after it was stolen with a baby inside, tells how her instincts kicked in. https://t.co/Gk3YcIbhKF
— 7 News Melbourne (@7NewsMelbourne) November 9, 2016
The young man claims that the CCTV footage of the incident is too blurry to positively identify him.
Let’s hope justice prevails in this shocking case.
