"She's my hero:" 23-year-old college student able to stay calm & eventually escape after carjacking



GREENPORT, New York -- A woman was able to outsmart a suspected kidnapper who held her hostage in her own vehicle. Police say he went after her while she was filling up her vehicle with gas at a gas station in Pennsylvania.

Surveillance video shows the frantic moments. 23-year-old Rachel Stephenson is seen running for her life -- fleeing from a man who stole her vehicle while she was inside.

Stephenson, a master's student at Binghamton University in New York was heading home for Christmas. She stopped at a gas station in Pennsylvania.

As she pumped her gas, a man jumped into her driver's seat. She opened the passenger door to rescue her two cats, but the suspect wasn't about to wait around.

"He had put the car into drive and was speeding away and the door wasn't shut. It was slamming against my legs and my legs were still hanging out of the car," Stephenson said.

"He grabbed her and told her 'you're now going with me. You're now my hostage,'" Brett Stephenson, Rachel's father said.

Raliek Chambers



Brett Stephenson says two hours of terror followed. Behind the wheel, speeding in the foggy night, 18-year-old Raliek Chambers hit Rachel Stephenson, announced he had a gun, and that he was making a run for Virginia.

The social work student's training kicked in.

"She said 'let me out and I'll buy you a bus ticket,'" Brett Stephenson said.

"Trying to keep the situation clam, because I knew if he got angry that things would turn out worse for me," Rachel Stephenson said.

While weaving through traffic, Chambers didn't notice as Rachel Stephenson texted her boyfriend for help.

Stephenson was even able to convince Chambers to let her take a call from her father. She calmly gave him critical information over the phone.

As gas was running low, Stephenson saw her opportunity to escape.

"She jumped out the car to a group of people screaming frantically 'I've been kidnapped,'" Brett Stephenson said.

Chambers took off -- but police tracked Stephenson's cell phone and caught up with him.

Stephenson's parents were reunited with their daughter.

"I told her the day she got herself free that she's my hero," Brett Stephenson said.

Rachel Stephenson has since returned safely to school with her beloved cats.

Chambers is facing kidnapping and robbery charges.

Police say he tried to carjack three other drivers before Stephenson.