In the aftermath of a traumatic carjacking, a woman has gone viral on TikTok when she shared four tips to ensure that the same thing doesn’t happen to others.
Noelle Fox (@exploringnoelle) begins by saying, “Last weekend, I was carjacked at gunpoint. Here’s four things that I wish I knew before I was carjacked at gunpoint to help prevent or prepare myself for this situation.”
Her first tip is to keep some kind of tracking device in the car, like an AirTag or Tile.
“If your car already has a tracking device, make sure that that is set up and linked so you can find it,” she says.
Her second piece of advice is to have renters insurance in place, rather than only depending on car insurance.
“If I had renter’s insurance, it would have covered the thousands of dollars of equipment and things that had been in my vehicle,” she explains.
Her third piece of advice is to carry some sort of protection, like pepper spray. Her last suggestion is to keep your phone charged, and to commit certain numbers to memory.
“My phone was at 2%, and it died, and I had to go to a neighbor’s house, which leads me to my follow-up point. Make sure you have your emergency contacts memorized because I did not, and this was a huge hassle when my phone was dead,” she says.
Viewers thanked the TikToker
Fox’s video n the clip amassed 38,800 views. In the comments, many expressed their concern and good wishes following Fox’s carjacking.
“I’m so sorry this happened to you. It’s incredibly traumatizing, Thank you for telling your story,” one person wrote.
Another added, “I’m so sorry. I was mugged at gunpoint a few years ago, and it sticks with you and pops up in the most surprising times.”
One person asked, “Ma’am. Are you ok? Was your car found?”
Fox responded, “Physically okay, mentally is a different story … Yes, my car was found but the suspects have not been arrested.”
Other commenters shared some of their own tips. One person suggested keeping a copy of your car registration on your phone. Another proposed driving a “s**tty” car no one would want to steal it. Many also recommended untraceable tracking devices like LowJack, rather than Air Tags.
@exploringnoelle ♬ original sound – Noelle
What happened during the carjacking?
Fox spoke more about the carjacking during an interview with local Seattle news station, KIRO 7. She told reporters that the carjacking happened in her own front yard, as she parked her car. She also had her two dogs in the back seat.
“There’s a man speaking to me with a gun pointed into me, asking me for a ride,” she said. She claims there was also a woman standing on the passenger side.
“He said ‘Shut up or you’re gonna die’ and I said ‘I have to get my aggressive dogs out of the car’ and the woman said ‘Hurry up,’” Fox recounted.
She then explained that she offered up her car, provided her dogs were safe. The pair then drove off with a number of her valuable possessions, including her laptop.
“I knew that once I was in the vehicle with him, I had no idea what he would’ve done to me,” she said. “And I knew if my safety was in danger anyways, I knew it would be a done deal and it would’ve been a lot worse if I was in the vehicle with him.”
She continued, “The threats to my life were very real, which adds to the uneasiness after that happening… just knowing that he has my registration, my house keys and he knows where I live.”
Since the carjacking, Fox added that she’d been having “panic attacks,” and was focused on moving out.
The Daily Dot’s reached out to Fox via TikTok comment.
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