The incident was caught on surveillance video. Tony Shin reports for the NBC4 News on Tuesday, May 11, 2021.
A suspected car thief in Corona learned he chose the wrong vehicle when Honda Civic owner Sam Raahauge took matters into her own hands.
The bizarre series of events began when Raahauge was surprised to find a stranger sitting in the driver's seat of her car on Monday morning.
"His excuse was he was in the wrong car... and my reply was, 'Yes, yes it is," Raahauge said.
The surveillance footage that captured the incident shows Raahauge talking to someone in the driver's seat, then throwing a punch at his head. The car appears to shake from the force of the blow.
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"I hit him as hard as I absolutely could. I could feel God's fist in that thing," she said.
Raahauge discovered the man in her car, parked outside her workplace at Crown and Stache Barber Company, when she went to get her cigarettes.
According to Raahauge, the suspect was able to get into the vehicle because the window doesn't roll all the way up. She said that he was trying to steal her car, which made her so angry she reacted with a punch.
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"I don't have a lot of money, I'm a single mom," Raahauge said. "My car, yeah, she's not the most prettiest thing ever, I take as good of care as I can with her."
Seconds after the punch, footage shows the man trying to escape through the passenger's side door, slowed by Raahauge.
"I'm grabbing him, fumbling with him, I'm grabbing anything I can — his pants, his shoes," she said.
Eventually, the man got out of the car, but Raahauge told him she was ready to continue the fight.
"You are going to try and steal my $500 Honda?" she said. "Come on, let's go."
When the suspect ran, Raahauge followed. The man got away, but according to Raahauge, he dropped a "shaved key," basically a modified car key that can work in various ignitions.
A police helicopter, captured by Raahauge on cell phone footage, tried to find the man without success. The shaved key is now with Corona police as evidence in the case.
In the meantime, Raahauge wears a t-shirt that reads "I dare you to come and take it," as a warning to future thieves.
"Don't take mine," she told NBC4. "I work hard everyday."
