There are plenty of things that can make a carjacking even more terrifying. Having a gun pointed at you, being ordered into the passenger seat, and realizing you’re no longer in control of your own vehicle are all high on the list.
Most victims spend those moments looking for any opportunity to escape. According to ABC13, one Houston man instead found a different opportunity: secretly calling 911 while sitting just a few feet away from the man who had just carjacked him.
What happened next sounds almost too unbelievable to be true. The suspect allegedly asked his victim for directions, unknowingly allowing him to feed turn-by-turn instructions to both the driver and the 911 dispatcher listening on the other end of the call.
According to investigators, the quick thinking ultimately helped police locate the stolen vehicle and bring the ordeal to an end. While the victim’s car was destroyed in the process, he walked away thankful to be alive.
The Victim Quietly Turned a Phone Call Into a Lifeline
Give the clip below a moment to load.
James Cichon had just finished a day of walking dogs in Houston’s Rice Military neighborhood when someone knocked on the window of his parked car. He said he had been sitting inside for about a minute when an armed man, later identified by investigators as 18-year-old DeShawn Johnson, ordered him at gunpoint to move over because they were “going for a ride.”
According to Cichon, the suspect had only been living in Houston for a few months and wasn’t familiar with the area. That led to an unexpected twist when the alleged carjacker began asking the victim where to go.
He then immediately looked for a way to alert authorities without tipping off the suspect. “I just turned my call all the way down so that no volume was coming out of my phone whatsoever,” he said, explaining how he secretly called 911 while pretending to cooperate with the carjacker.
The Suspect Realized Police Were Listening Too Late
Unfortunately, Johnson figured out that the cops were on the phone. Moments later, he said they went from driving about 10 to 15 mph to racing at roughly 50 to 60 mph while traveling the wrong way down a one-way street.
The pursuit eventually came to an end after the vehicle crashed near Washington Avenue, where officers arrested Johnson. Although Cichon’s Lincoln was totaled, he said he considers himself fortunate that the encounter didn’t end far worse.
Investigators say Johnson now faces multiple charges, including aggravated kidnapping and robbery. Looking back on the ordeal, Cichon believes the suspect gave him just enough opportunities to survive.
“He made a lot of mistakes,” Cichon told ABC13. “I outwitted the man.”