JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A Jacksonville mother and her young daughter are happy to be together and safe after they were carjacked at a gas station in the Mandarin area.
The Su family planned on vacuuming out their two cars at the gas station; but while they were working on cleaning the cars, a criminal struck.
Danielle Su said her husband, Anthony Su, was inside the store getting change when a strange man jumped behind the wheel of one of their cars.
The carjacking took place in the 10000 block of Old St. Augustine Road while the couples 2-year-old daughter Laila was still inside the car.
My handprints are still on the car from where I tried to get hold and I tried to get in, Danielle Su said.
She told Channel 4 she was able to hop into the back seat just in time to try to save her daughter.
I don't care if you take the car, but you're not taking her. The police were like, 'Most of the time when they take a kid with the car, they'll just dump them anywhere -- a trash can, the side of the road, they don't care, Danielle Su said.
The carjacker drove erratically for a few blocks before crashing the car at a nearby apartment complex. That where Danielle Su said the man hopped out of her wrecked car and then stole another car.
Anthony Su said after he walked out of the store to see what was happening he tried running after the stolen car, but soon realized he needed to hop in their other car if he was going to catch up with the carjacker that had his family.
I saw my wife in the backseat, and I see the dude. He was looking dead at me, Anthony Su said. Just seeing my wife and daughter in the backseat and the guy in the front seat, it was just like, What do I do? What do I do next?'
Although the Su family is left with a car that has a few dings in it, they said that doesn't matter because their daughter is safe.
That's a car. I can replace that, but that's my wife and daughter, and I love them so much. I can't replace that, Anthony Su said.