Two graduate students save woman from near abduction

When two University graduate students saw a woman struggling against an assailant in her car outside King's Court/English House, they didn't hesitate to act. The two, second-year law students Dave Shields and Dan Cohen, came to the rescue of a woman who was almost kidnapped by a man trying to car-jack her and her black Acura Legend. The incident started at around 6 p.m. yesterday when a College freshman, who asked to remain anonymous, was getting dropped off by her uncle and his girlfriend, University Police Sergeant Keith Christian said. While the student and her uncle entered King's Court, the woman remained in the passenger seat of the car, which had its motor running. Within minutes, a man jumped into the car and attempted to drive away, Christian said. While the woman struggled to get away, the man fought to keep her in the car. Shields and Cohen then came to her aid. "We were walking by and this guy got in the driver's side of the car," Shields said last night. "She realized that it wasn't who she was expecting. She started screaming and yelling. "She opened the passenger side of the car, [and] tried to get out, and he pulled her arm, and pulled her back in," said Shields, who happened to be walking by when the incident occurred. "I came over to help her out," he added. "We got involved in a sort of tug-of-war with her." "[The man] was pulling one arm, and Dave was pulling the other," Cohen said. Cohen said after he got the woman out of the car, he tried to grab hold of her purse. Because the strap broke, Cohen was unable to keep his grip. The car-jacker then drove up on the sidewalk, crashing into the wall of King's Court, Christian said. He then hit two parked cars – a Datsun and a Toyota pick-up truck – before he fled, driving west on Sansom Street and north on 36th Street. "I guess I never thought I'd ever see something like this going on," Shields said. Cohen, echoed Shields' sentiments and expressed relief that no one was injured. "I was surprised," he said. "It is very well lit there. As he was crashing, there must have been 20 people standing there." Last night, the student, who did not see the incident, was still shaken up. "I'm grateful that [the graduate students] had the presence of mind to try to pull [her] out," she said. "And they succeeded and that was really good." The assailant was described as a black male, 230 pounds, 6-feet tall and about 25 years old. As of last night, police had no suspects in custody. The car-jacking is just one of several serious crimes which occurred near the residence this year. Last March, a Temple student was shot in the subway station right in front of the same dormitory, sustaining only minor injuries. And news of last night's car-jacking has Kings Court/English house residents on edge. "Pretty much everyone knows about [the car-jacking] now," College freshmen Dave Chalom said. "The [Residential Advisor] went around and told everyone to be extra careful. I guess its what we should expect in a city, but it's kind of scary that it was so close."