After alleged attack, good samaritan helps victim 

"I just think I was meant to be running by at that time."

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – A woman was allegedly drug by a car in an attempt to retrieve her purse from a parking lot thief and a Lincoln woman came to her rescue. 

“I just heard somebody screaming ‘help me, help me please’, and I don’t know how I even heard her,” Becky Sudik, a Lincoln woman who initially found the victim. “But I looked down because 84th is a little higher than the Hy–Vee parking lot is, and this woman was just laying on the concrete,”

Sudik was enjoying her morning run around 10 a.m. Sunday when she came across a woman badly hurt in the Hy-Vee parking lot near 84th and Holdrege. She quickly jumped into action and was able to get the attention of others nearby.

“The guy had taken his shirt off and wrapped it around her ankle and was applying pressure to try and stop some of the bleeding that was going on,” Sudik said. “One gal was holding her hand, reassuring her and the other lady was on the cell phone talking to 911.”

The 53-year-old victim was sleeping in her truck in that parking lot when a man opened her door and stole her purse. That lady tried to grab it back and chased the suspect down where she was then dragged by his vehicle.

The woman was rushed to a local hospital where she suffered significant leg injuries, but police say she is expected to be okay.

The victim had some guardian angels watching over her.

“I usually run at six or seven o’clock in the morning and I get out first thing before the heat of the day starts and this Sunday I didn’t start till a little after nine,” Sudik said. “It was a little different route than I normally take too, but yeah I think all of the stars aligned. I just think I was meant to be running by at that time.”

As of Tuesday, police are still searching for the suspect.

But this could happen to anyone, so what can you do to try and stay safe? Trainers say always be prepared.

“Have you thought about wherever you go, what’s your plan? what’s your condition? If things were to go bad,” Dan Longoria, owner of Longoria’s Tactical Martial Arts said.

He has taught self-defense classes for 34 years in Lincoln and says there are several things you should be doing everyday to protect yourself.

First, scan the room or area you’re in and be aware of your surroundings at all times.

Next, many people think just because you have pepper spray in your bag, you’re protected, but that’s not always the case.

“It’s a tool and unfortunately a tool can be taken away from you or used on you so sometimes it can malfunction,” Longoria said. “My philosophy is to learn how to use what you already have more effectively and (pepper spray) will be your secondary tools.”