Hollywood Woman's Key Decisions Help Her Survive Armed Carjacking
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HOLLYWOOD (CBSMiami) – A quick-thinking Hollywood woman made several key decisions that helped her survive an armed carjacking.
"I am so happy to be alive," declared Priscilla Cercone, arriving home from work after the most harrowing night of her life.
Cercone is grateful to have survived a carjacking by gunpoint that unfolded as she sat in her car in the parking lot of her home.
It unfolded as she was on the phone with her husband who listened to every chilling word.
She said the suspect told her, "Do what I tell you, I have a gun and I will kill you."
Her abductor was identified by police as 21-year-old Bernard Owens, who appeared today in bond court Wednesday.
"I knew I could not die like this," she said.
Cercone said he ordered her to drive to an ATM where he demanded she take out $500.
When the ATM would not allow her to withdraw that amount, he demanded $400.
"He wanted more and more money. I said I am not a rich woman," Cercone recalled.
The suspect then told her to return to her home where police were waiting, as her husband had called them.
She then decided to head toward them while jumping out of her moving car. Owens did the same but was apprehended.
Owens remains in jail. His charges include armed robbery and kidnapping.
