Melody Maldonado, 33, ran and jumped on her car hood as soon as she saw someone taking away her car. For the mom, the car was not the problem, but it was her kids who were still inside the vehicle. She desperately clung to the vehicle to make sure the culprit knows that they are not taking her kids away.
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New Mexico mom Melody Maldonado, 33, was caught on camera desperately running after a car and jumping on its hood to stop her own car during a carjacking to protect her two kids from getting kidnapped.
The video shows the car parked in front of a store and nipped inside the shop. The mom moves out of the car, leaving her six-year-old daughter and 11-month-old son inside the vehicle.
Credit: Melody Maldonado
Just when she returned to the car, she was ‘pushed’ by another woman who then jumped into the vehicle and drove away with the children inside, but not before Maldonado jumped onto the bonnet and clung on for dear life.
Talking to MailOnline, Maldonado explained that during the 2018 incident alleged car thief Regina Castillo, 29, was ‘swerving’ to try and fling the desperate mum off the vehicle and refused to stop the car, despite Maldonado yelling that her kids were inside.
Credit: Melody Maldonado
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Maldonado explained: “She definitely heard me. I yelled for her to stop and that my kids were in the car.
“She kept driving. We went a good distance…she was swerving so that I would fall off.”
Maldonado eventually fell off the car but she didn't waste any time and ran inside the convenience store to alert the clerk to call the police. In the heat of the moment, the mom didn't even realize that she’d broken her foot.
“I didn’t care what happened to the car. I just wanted my kids back,” the doting mum
Credit: Melody Maldonado
The Hobbs Police Department located the car and identified the suspect as Castillo.
Police later revealed that Castillo dumped Maldonado’s young daughter Ma’Rey at an intersection, but the alleged carjacker also abandoned Maldonado’s white Hyundai - with 11-month-old Mikah inside - and tried to escape law enforcement.
Officials eventually caught her hiding in a pickup truck and had her arrested.
Credit: The Hobbs Police Department
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Maldonado said she thinks her daughter Ma’Rey was left disturbed by the incident as she was left at the intersection by the carjacker because the culprit learned that she had a phone on her and didn’t want to risk being followed by cops.
Luckily, there were some kind passersby who looked after Ma’Rey and contacted the police to let them know she’d been found.
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Both of Maldonado’s kids were treated by EMS before being reunited with their mom. Maldonado was treated for her broken foot and ‘a lot of road rash’.
According to MailOnline, it was discovered after Castillo’s arrest that apart from this crime, she had three active arrest warrants on charges including shoplifting, concealing identity, and failure to appear for traffic violations.