By Liana Jacob
THIS MUM of two was so TERRIFIED after a man attempted to ABDUCT HER that she thinks about the attack ‘HUNDREDS’ of times a day – but you wouldn’t want to mess with her now as she has since joined self-defence classes, learnt to use a PISTOL and carries a siren with her wherever she goes.
In August 2017, mortgage customer support manager, Lindsey Alexandra (38) from Michigan, USA, was on one of her regular walks during lunch when she noticed a car driving alongside her with the window down.
The man poked his head out of the window and offered her a ride, to which she rejected politely and kept on walking. He kept persisting, while continuing to drive beside her, when he eventually pulled up into a coffee shop driveway in front of her and blocked her path.
He started begging her to get into his car and despite ignoring him, he parked in the driveway and got out, pleading her to get into his car, claiming that he needed a friend and had no one to talk to. After continuing to resist, he became more aggressive and grabbed her elbow, then put his arm around her shoulders, when Lindsey spun out of his arm.
She ran away from him towards a nearby fire department, which was 600 feet away from where he was, yelling for help, when a firefighter heard her and chased after the man, however, the man managed to get away in his car.
Despite reporting the man, nothing could be done as Lindsey couldn’t identify him, so for protection, she took a friend with her on her walks. A year later, he appeared again on their route and her friend made a note of the vehicle. However, when another report was filed, the man wasn’t part of the line-up.
“I was so disappointed; I was angry with myself for not paying attention to his license plate when I passed behind his car,” Lindsey said.
“I was fearful that my inability to identify him would result in him successfully kidnapping another woman and I felt guilty and responsible for letting him get away.
“About a week later, my friend noticed the car that looks like the one that passed us in a parking lot near our work, on the same walking route.
“I opened my phone up and took a photo of the license plate, and as I did so, the man came out of the industrial building telling me to get away from his car.
“I was standing face-to-face with my attacker again. I ran as I had never run before. My friend and I hid as he got into his car and sped away.
“I turned in the photo to the detective and another report was filed. Now we had his license plate. I was able to successfully identify him in a line-up.
“The man is from Bangladesh, and he claimed that he had been in the area applying for jobs and initially denied these events.”
After initially denying the events, in November 2018, Lindsey’s attacker pleaded guilty and was charged with misdemeanour assault, sentenced to probation and a no-contact protection order is in place.
She has now joined self-defence classes to become stronger and despite initially focusing on losing weight before the attack; when she lost 6st 8Ib after being diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome, she has since focused on gaining more muscle.
At the time of her attack, the mum of two teenagers, Lexis (16) and Dylan (18), who is happily married to her high school sweetheart, was 9st 12Ib, she has since gained muscle and weighs 11st 6Ib and has made it her mission to raise awareness of safety.
She now makes sure to carry pepper spray and a siren with her in her bag everywhere she goes in case a similar occurrence happens again.
“586 Crossfit Asylum heard of my story and reached out to me; they offered me the first self-defence class for free,” she said.
“I brought a group of my family and friends for the first class and it was so empowering, I loved it. I then scheduled another class, with another group, and I now have the next level class scheduled for in April with another group of family and friends.
“I have taken my security a step further by also taking the concealed pistol license class with Detroit Arms and will be legally registered and carrying CPL holder.
“I feel that these are skills every person should arm themselves with as we never know when or where an attack will take place.
“I carry the pepper spray and siren because they are easily obtainable weapons for self-defence from any online or local shop.
“If I pull the pin on the siren it will scream like a fire truck hopefully startling any attacker and drawing attention to the situation, giving the opportunity to aim the pepper spray effectively in the eyes of the attacker, to then blind-sight them and escape.
“These tools would be useful from an approaching attack, and the self-defence skills are if it is a hands-on and violent assault. We have to be prepared for anything.
“It is up to each of us to have the knowledge and awareness to protect ourselves and I hope my story will encourage others to take the steps needed as well for prevention.
“I’ve had many sleepless nights, nightmares, emotional days and a hard time with remaining in the area locally where these events had taken place.
“I’ve had days when I couldn’t leave my house or get out of my car and had to return home. I’ve had to change my routines and quit walking on the route he found me and followed me on.
“I do wholeheartedly believe that the self-defence class has given me the confidence to know I have the ability to defend myself.
“I think of the attack a hundred times-a-day; every time I get out of my car, every time I walk across a parking lot, every time I am in a store, or go for a walk or run. I am constantly watching for him, or his car, or for any person that may be standing to close or looking at me.
“I’m constantly advising my daughter to watch her surroundings as well. I am a better person now because I pay much more attention to things happening around me, and my family and friends are protecting themselves as well.
“I’ve shifted my weight loss goals to muscle building. I am stronger now and will continue training both mentally and physically to be the best I can be and encourage others to do the same.
“I suffer from PCOS and had been overweight for years at 16st 6Ib and I am five-foot-eight-inches tall.
“In 2015, I decided to change my life, and started walking, and eating a low carb diet. I lost the weight; my goal was to be skinny.
“Since the attack, I have re-focused my desire to be skinny to being strong instead. I now have much better muscle definition and strength.
“I am better than ever; I feel that these things have happened to me for a reason and I am trying to find the next path of where these life lessons can be shared with and inspire others to take action in themselves.
“It is very hard to accept that the world can have such evil. We see these things happen in movies, or on TV, in the news, we hear about things happening all over the world and sometimes it hits close to home, but until it happens to you or someone you know it all still seems ‘fictional’.
“It’s so very sad that these things are truly happening every day all over the world and it isn’t easy to accept.
“My advice would be to talk about I, either with friends, family, or a counsellor if needed; process it, learn how to protect yourself.
“Educate yourself. Be stronger. Lead by example. We were victims, but now we are survivors. Share your story. People will listen, and you might just save a life.”
