What was supposed to be a fun mother-daughter outing on Black Friday turned into a nightmare when the pair was rammed by a truck and robbed in Santee.
While daughter Kourtney didn’t want NBC 7 to use her full name due to safety concerns, the Lakeside woman did want to share her experience to serve as a warning to other holiday shoppers.
The women, who were shopping for relatives, decided to check out the Black Friday sales in person this year.
“It’s been two years since we've been able to do this because of COVID, so we were like, 'Let’s just have fun!' ” Kourtney said.
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But around 10 p.m., when they left Kohl’s in Santee, Kourtney and her mother were hit by a driver in a dark green Toyota Tacoma.
“It was evil, what he did,” Kourtney recalled.
Kourtney’s mother hit her head on the hood of the car, and the impact sent both women flying.
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“He threw us a good 10 to 15 feet from where we were,” Kourtney said.
The driver then exited the car, pretending he had hit them accidentally, but then he tried, unsuccessfully, to grab Kourtney's purse.
“With all of his weight, he yanked it again and ripped the strap from my purse, so he didn’t get my purse,” Kourtney told NBC 7.
The suspect got ahold of their shopping bags, however, then took off.
Kourtney’s mom was hospitalized with a concussion and broken toe.
Kourtney has a warning to shoppers this holiday season: “Don’t trust anyone, honestly. Make sure you're aware of your surroundings completely, not just of people but of vehicles around you. If it seems suspicious, it is suspicious.”
She believes people are desperate and will do anything.
“With COVID, with rising prices of things, with inflation, people are desperate," Kourtney said. "They are going to do what it takes to get by, and they don’t care if your life is ruined. Their life is not ruined unless they are caught.”
Investigators with the San Diego Sheriff’s Department are looking for the suspect, who was driving what's believed to be a dark green Toyota Tacoma, probably a 2004-08 model.
There is surveillance video of the incident, but a representative with the sheriff’s department emailed NBC 7 that “detectives would like nothing released at this time as they are still in the beginning stages of the investigation.”
