WORCESTER (CBS) – A Connecticut man is being arrested – and a young Worcester woman is glad she is not seriously injured – following an attempted carjacking over the weekend.
It was two o’clock on a Saturday morning when a 24-year-old nursing assistant named Julitssa (she asked to use only her last name) was on her way home from a friend’s house – when her good deed turned out to be. into a fierce struggle.
She was driving on Park Avenue in Worcester when she saw a car swerve across the street and hit a pole and decided to stop and help.
Julitssa fights against a man who tries to rob her in Worcester (WBZ-TV)
Police say the injured driver was William Vasbinder, 40 – and things quickly turned sour.
“It was a fight or a flight,” said Julitssa. “And I fought.”
What Julitssa didn’t know was that the wrecked car had been stolen.
And so, while standing nearby calling 911, she said Vasbinder was trying to steal her running Nissan Rogue, when she turned around to stop him.
“I bit him at first,” she said, “and I think that startled him and stopped the car. Then I put him in a head lock to kick him out of the car. ”
Julitssa (WBZ-TV)
Surveillance video from a car wash showed the Nissan lurching forward but stopping quickly as the pair scrambled for control of the SUV.
“But his foot was on the gas, so my next step was to turn off the engine,” Julitssa said.
Julitssa says she may have lost her mind for a moment or two – even if she second guessed her decision to be a Good Samaritan. She said: “I actually saw you fly into a pole. “I’m so worried for you – tried to help. In return, you tried to steal my car and tried to beat me up.”
Julitssa said the struggle seemed to last forever – albeit for less than 45 seconds – until Vasbinder climbed out and ran and police responded to arrest him a few blocks away.
He is facing a number of charges – including carjacking and assault. He was booked on Tuesday and ordered to be held without bail until a dangerous condition hearing on November 23.
“It was scary,” she said. “Very scary.”
Julitssa works with recovering addicts and says drugs and needles fell out of the suspect’s pocket into her SUV during the struggle.
“If you want to ruin your life then ruin your own,” she said. “But don’t drag others along.”
Julitssa is wearing a mask – and taking a few days off work – because police told her the suspect has Covid – and she is currently waiting for her test results.
