Woman thwarts carjacking attempt

September 8, 2011

Arroyo Grande police are hunting a knife-wielding, foul-smelling man who attacked a 25-year-old woman after she had stopped her car briefly in a residential neighborhood.

The unidentified Santa Maria woman was left with minor injuries in the Sept. 6 incident, which occurred just after 10 p.m.

The young woman pulled to the curb on Elm Street after dropping her cell phone. As she reached to retrieve it, the assailant opened the passenger door and flashed a knife, police said.

The victim grabbed at the knife cutting her hand in the process. She screamed, and the suspect grabbed her hair and slammed her head into a window. She struggled with the suspect until she was able to drive away, she told officers.

Police described the suspect as a white male, 5-10, 175 pounds, with a “buzzed” haircut and a “scruffy” beard. He wore dark clothing, has missing or jagged teeth, a “foul” body odor, and eyebrows with painted-on, or tattooed, enhancements.

The woman’s injuries did not require medical help, and the suspect escaped before officers arrived.

Police ask anyone with information to call 473-5100.