Woman fights off car thief driving wrong direction down busy road in Buckhead

ATLANTA — Police are searching for a man who stole a couple's car with the woman and dog still inside on the Fourth of July.

The couple had stopped at the Zesto on Piedmont Road to get some ice cream. They left their new puppy in the locked car with the A/C on as they ran inside to pick it up.

"It was hot outside so we left the dog in the car, but we wanted to leave the A/C running. We thought she’d be fine, we’ll only be a minute," the woman said.

While standing at the counter, they noticed someone using a screwdriver to break into their car. They ran outside and tried to pull the thief out of the driver’s seat.

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"I was not letting anything happen to that dog. We just got her and I'm thinking, 'He's gonna drive away with her. He's gonna hurt her,'" the woman said.

Unfortunately, when they ran up to the car to stop him, the key fob engaged, allowing the thief to put the car in drive.

As the woman leaned across the passenger seat, the thief took off with her still inside. As the car sped away, she fought him and yelled at him to stop the car and get out.

"At first he said, 'No, you get out of the car,' and I was, like, 'No, you get out of the car.'  And I just started grabbing his collar and hitting him as hard as I could," she said.

The car drove the wrong way down Piedmont Road until it crashed into another car.

"It was a lot of smoke. It was like a movie. I can't believe it all happened the way it did," the woman said.

The thief took off and is still on the run.

Cox Media Group