Life On The Off-Ramp

Police: Nurse helps crash victim, gets carjacked

Published: 04/12/10 at 11:46 PM | Updated: 04/13/10 at 12:58 AM

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A nurse who left her vehicle at a gas station to help a nearby accident victim was the victim of a carjacking and dragged about 20 yards after she tried to grab the keys, Los Angeles police said Monday.

The nurse, who police didn’t identify, was filling up her car at the gas station near the city’s Pico-Union neighborhood early Sunday when she saw another car hit a traffic signal pole, which then fell on a pedestrian, Officer Carlos Ortega said.

The good Samaritan nurse left the keys in her car and ran across the street to help, police said. But Deserie Guzman allegedly hopped in the nurse’s car and started the engine.

When the nurse ran back, Guzman allegedly hit the gas, police said. The nurse was dragged until she fell, hit her head on the pavement and blacked out.

“I don’t know if she was holding on, trying to turn the car off, or got stuck on the steering wheel and couldn’t get loose,” Ortega said. “She wasn’t clear on that because she was knocked out.”

Guzman, 28, sped off toward the freeway, hit another car about a mile away and tried to flee on foot, he said.

Two men who saw what happened followed Guzman up an Interstate 10 onramp and offered her a ride, Ortega said.

“They didn’t see the first incident and thought she was trying to flee the scene of the accident. So they wanted her to think they’re helping her out,” he said.

Guzman got in the backseat, he said. The two men tried to take her to a California Highway Patrol station on the freeway, but it was closed. They returned to the scene of the first accident and flagged down police, who arrested Guzman.

Jasen Jack, 27, of Atlanta, who caused the original accident, was arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated.

The pedestrian who was hit with the traffic signal pole died. The nurse suffered minor injuries.

Theatre of The Ridiculous. Or a comedy relief episode of Adam-12, w/ a happy ending for all but the pedestrian done in by a falling standard. What a way to go.