‘I thought the man was going to kill me’: grandmother recounts carjacking

CRAVEN COUNTY, N.C. (WITN) - A grandmother who was forced out of her car yesterday outside of New Bern says she is grateful to have survived.

The 74-year-old James City resident remains at CarolinaEast Medical Center today for observation. She spoke to WITN’s Justin Lundy this afternoon from her hospital bed.

Johnson said it all began around 10:00 a.m. yesterday when she pulled into the parking lot of the Undenominational Pentecostal Holiness Church of James City along U.S. 70.

She stopped there to call her sister and to eat a candy bar.

The woman said a man and a woman came up to her car and thought she was their Uber driver. Johnson said they then demanded she get out, and the elderly woman refused. “We’re going to take the car,” the man told the woman.

Danny Minor and Kimberly Woodell, both from Asheboro, were arrested this morning by the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies say the woman’s stolen car was found nearby. It has been impounded in Randolph County.

The two are being charged by Craven County deputies with felony possession of a stolen vehicle, felony common law robbery, felony larceny of a motor vehicle, and felony assault on a disabled person.

The 27-year-old Minor, and the 30-year-old Woodell, are also facing charges in Randolph County and will appear before a judge in Asheboro on Monday before being brought back to Craven County to face the carjacking and assault charges.

Johnson said she hopes to be released from the hospital later today.

Copyright 2022 WITN. All rights reserved.