By: Dave Zawilinski, WOWT Channel 6
OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) — A dangerous situation you never thought you would find yourself in could happen to anyone. Last month in Birmingham, Alabama, a 25-year-old woman escaped from the trunk of a vehicle after being abducted. She was able to escape.
“If somebody already has you locked in the trunk it’s a pretty bad situation,” Trevor Thrasher said. “I would rather take my entire family put them in a car and drive off a cliff than get taken to a secondary location by some maniac who I don’t know.”
A situation he tries to help people avoid by teaching a self-defense class at 88 Tactical.
“There’s an old saying, ‘ounce of prevention vs. a pound of cure.’ If you find yourself in some maniac’s trunk, you’re going to need a pound of cure to get out of that,” said Thrasher.
“If you are in the worst case scenario, locked inside a trunk without a cell phone, there are a few things you can do to improve your position. Look for the glow pull tab, pull it and kick your way out to safety,” he said.
All cars built after 2001 are required by law to have one, but that doesn’t mean that they do.
“It is true that bad guys will prepare these cars ahead of time and disable it or cut it. But there’s still some other things you can do to escape or help your situation,” Thrasher explained.
Attracting attention is a top priority and there is a specific way to maximize your chances of alerting someone.
“Do something to the lights. Either kick them out or punch them out. You can even put your arm through the hole to wave at cars going by,” he said
The key to escaping is timing.
“You don’t want to be going down the road at 60 or 70 miles per hour, you want that vehicle to be at a stop.”
And if the vehicle is at a standstill, you have an additional opportunity.
“If this car were stopped and the person walked away, you could kick those back seats out and escape into the cabin,” Thrasher said.
If you see an opening, act immediately, but be ready to fight.
“And if you can get underneath here, if you can crawl under here you have the ability to find better weapons. You always want to improve your position as much as possible,” Thrasher said.
An impossible task now seems possible, by pulling, kicking, screaming, and any means necessary to get out alive.
This week on WOWT 6 News 10 at Ten, our reporters are digging into dangerous situations where you could find yourself at the mercy of an unknown attacker. Learn the tips and skills from experts that could help you escape and help you survive.
Don’t miss ESCAPE — this week on WOWT 6 News 10 at Ten. Check back to this page throughout the week for links to each story as it becomes available.
