When a man asked Adam Jorgenson for directions, he didn’t think about it. He turned, his car still running but within arms length, and started to tell the man where he needed to go. But then, in a flash, his running car sped off.
His two young daughters were inside. Adam said he immediately turned, watching in horror as his car took off. Inside the car was Charley, 8, and Autumn, 2, who had been enjoying the trip to the car wash at the Kwik Trip gas station in Oak Creek, Wis. “They just spray a bunch of soap on you,” Charley said, of her favorite part of the car wash. “Then, they wash it and after washing parts, you touch the window and it’s cold.”
Charley (middle, front) and her dad, Adam Jorgenson, along with Autumn being held by her mom. Photo courtesy of the Jorgenson family
After the wash, Adam stopped the car and got out to dry off a bit of the car that was still wet. The father said he left the car running, and he was just steps away from it. But he noticed something slightly odd, a purple Buick Encore parked at the pump for diesel fuel.
I was like, what’s that Buick doing sitting at a diesel pump?” Adam said. “They don’t need diesel.”
Then one of two men inside asked him for directions. Before he could react, he heard his tires squeal as the car raced out of the parking lot. “I quickly turned back around to the guys who had asked me for directions and I screamed at them saying, there are kids in the car you idiots,” Adam said.
Meanwhile, Charley explained that the man who had stolen her father’s car had started asking her questions. “He asked me, where are the keys?” she said. “I was like, that’s a good thing that my dad has the keys. So I told him, ‘my dad has the keys’. Then, he told me to get out and I was like, what should I do? Should I run and be a scaredy cat or should I save my sister too so I said, what about Autumn?”
Despite being scared, her first thought was her little sister. “That guy was trying to steal our car, I should do something,” Charley said she was thinking at the time. “I should try to kick him or defend myself and Autumn. But then, I was like, I should stay in my seat and do nothing. Stay here, do the questions but when I realized that dad had the key, I was like, he can’t do anything without the key.”
Adam Jorgenson and his daughter, Charley, talk about their scary ordeal. Photo from NBC video
Between the lack of keys and the brave girl refusing to get out without her sister, the thief had no choice – he abandoned the car less than a mile up the road. Once he did, Charley said she dived forward to grab her dad’s phone. She called her mom, and it went to voicemail: “Mom,” Charley said in the voicemail. “I need you. We lost dad.” In the background, you could hear Autumn asking, “Where go Da Da?” “I don’t know,” Charley can be heard responding.
The children’s mom was on the phone with Adam, while he was talking to 911. The couple were able to track the girls through Adam’s iPhone and relay that to the dispatcher. “Alright, Adam. The officers are out with the SUV and the two kids are fine,” the dispatcher told Adam. “Are you serious?” Adam said. “Oh my god.” “They are over by Batteries Plus. An officer is going to come over and meet you at Kwik Trip, ok?” “Alright, but you guys have my kids?” Adam said. “We do, yes.”
Oh my god. Thank you.”
The Oak Creek Police Department released a statement saying three men, ranging in ages from 17 to 21, were arrested and felony charges were pending. While he hopes others will learn from what happened to the family – it only takes a second for someone to take a running car, he is impressed with how Charley handled the situation.
“It makes me really proud that we’re raising our daughter to be sufficient on her own, to think about not just herself and others (but) how can I best get out of this situation?” Adam said.
