A Houston woman has described a bizarre carjacking where knifemen listened to jazz with her, apologized and even gave her a pep talk when they robbed her of $2,000.
Becky Brown, 73, said she would even visit one of the young men in prison who she says had “this kindness in him” after he expressed remorse for taking her money.
told Brown ABCHouston that she was locked in her car by the two men last Tuesday when she was charging her phone outside her home around 11:30 p.m.
She said the masked men were armed with an eight-inch knife and got into the car. They tried to withdraw money from her account using her phone app for two hours, but were blocked by the security features. During the ordeal, they all listened to jazz on the radio together.
Finally, they drove to a nearby Wells Fargo and forced the elderly woman to withdraw $2,000 from the ATM. One of them said to Brown, who was having trouble walking, “I wish I could have helped you.”
“There is a dichotomy of what is going on in our culture. I feel sorry for him in a way. Somewhere in him he had this kindness, and he meant it,” Brown said.
Becky Brown told ABC Houston that she was in her car charging her phone when two men, one armed with a large knife, approached and entered her car
One of the robbery suspects, Andre Williams, 20, appeared in court and was held on $300,000 bond
“I really don’t think they would have killed me, but I was worried. Is he going to pull out that knife and cut my face or my arm? It was an eight inch knife. I just felt that if I stayed calm, they would stay calm, and I’m here and I’m alive,” she added.
One of the men, 20-year-old Andre Williams, is in custody and has bail set at $300,000. The other remains free. In her ABC interview, Brown said she would visit the attackers in prison if they wanted to see her.
During the ordeal, Brown called her bank and attempted to make the transfer over the phone.
Mr. Wells Fargo asked, “Are you alone?” I’m not stupid, I’m not going to say that, or I could be killed. I said, ‘No, I’m sitting here in my car, with the windows down,'” Brown told ABC Houston.
Finally, the robbers had Brown drive to a nearby Wells Fargo and forced her to withdraw $2,000.
Brown told the station that she has a limp from having hip surgery. When she returned to the car, one of the robbers said he wished he could have helped her to the ATM, but was not on any surveillance cameras.
From there, Brown drove home and let the two men get out of her car near the residence.
Brown said that while the couple were in the car, she told them she was looking forward to better health so she could go to concerts and street fairs.
Brown said in her interview with ABC Houston that she would visit her robbers in jail. She described one of them as having “this kindness”
“When they got out of my car, the last thing the man, who had never spoken before, said to me was, ‘Go to your music festivals.’ If he went to prison, I would visit him. Yes, I was going to see him,” Brown added.
Most law enforcement agencies advise street robbery victims not to resist and to surrender their property. Do not resist, do not make sudden movements and do as the attacker says.
“Tranquility breeds calmness. When you panic, you in turn panic a person with a gun to your head, who clearly felt pushed into a corner before you started screaming and convulsing a foot away,” former police officer Justin Freeman wrote . in an essay for Quartz.
Freeman also recommended looking the robber in the eye and forcing him to acknowledge your humanity.
Do your best to remember anything distinctive about the robber, what they wore or an accent and don’t follow them after they leave.
As soon as it is safe, victims are advised to call the police.