Getting gas at 6:30 in the morning is about as routine as life gets.
For one 60-year-old woman in Columbus, Ohio, it turned into two armed men allegedly attacking her, knocking her to the ground and driving away in her car.
She survived the encounter, and listening to her describe it afterward, you get the sense the men did not exactly pick someone who was going to make things easy for them.
“I wasn’t going to just let them take my car,” she told 10TV.
A Morning Stop Turns Violent
The attack happened at about 6:35 a.m. on Aug. 15 while the woman was pumping gas in Columbus.
According to information attributed to the Columbus Division of Police, two men approached her during the stop.
Police said one of the men displayed a black handgun and pointed it at the woman. The second man was also reportedly armed.
What followed was not simply somebody jumping into an unattended car.
The woman was punched and thrown to the ground during the struggle, according to police information reported by ABC 6/FOX 28.
The two men then allegedly drove away in her gray Chevrolet Malibu.
Police described both suspects as Black males dressed in black. One was reported to have dreadlocks extending to around his neck.
As of the latest reports, police had not announced any arrests.
She Fought Back
The surveillance video is difficult to watch because of how quickly an ordinary stop becomes a physical fight.
But the victim also clearly was not passive during the attack.
She fought with the men before she was eventually knocked down, and later told 10TV that she was operating largely on instinct.
Considering at least one gun was allegedly pointed at her, getting out of the encounter alive is the part that matters most.
Her car was also eventually recovered.
That combination — she survived, the car came back and she was able to sit down afterward and tell the story herself — explains why so many people watching the report focused less on the stolen vehicle and more on the woman who had just gone through all of it.
People Were Mostly Just Glad She Was Okay
The reaction under 10TV’s video was unusually consistent for a YouTube comment section.
“What an absolutely terrible experience. Glad she is ok,” one viewer wrote.
Another was a little more emphatic.
“Wow she is a badass!!! Glad she made out ok and she got her car back!!”
“That’s terrible glad she’s ok,” another commenter wrote. “She’s a strong brave woman.”
There were also plenty of viewers debating how they would respond if somebody tried something similar, including several advocating carrying a firearm.
That is an easy hypothetical to work through from behind a keyboard.
Having two armed men walk up while you are standing beside a gas pump is something else entirely.
Police Are Still Looking For The Men
Columbus police have asked anyone who recognizes the suspects or has information about the case to contact the department’s Robbery Unit.
The department has continued seeking information while investigators work to identify the two men.
And while getting the Malibu back was certainly good news, the woman who owned it probably summed up the priorities better than anybody else could.
The car can be replaced.
Getting to walk away from an armed attack at a gas station is the part that really counts.