Days after a dramatic police pursuit through Snohomish County, KIRO 7 News learned the carjacking and chase started with a robbery at a store in Granite Falls.
The victim, Leah McTear, was shopping when she said Jacob Groshong walked into the store.
“He reached and grabbed my lanyard, and pulled my keys,” she told KIRO 7. “I turned around and went, ‘Hey!’"
The chase was then on.
“He went through the (front) door,” McTear said. “He ran toward my car. I got between him and the car.”
Then, she said, came the fight.
McTear said she was punched and thrown to the ground three different times.
“(Groshong) was big and strong and he just took me and flung me away,” said McTear. “It was easy for him."
Yet she didn’t give up.
“He was right between me. I could have easily hurt him,” she remarked.
Despite the fight, police said Groshong still managed to get away.
Police said they followed him for miles; mainly by pinging McTear’s cell phone which was still in her truck.
“I was livid,” said McTear. “I can’t even explain it. I was so mad that he got (the car)."
The chase finally came to a dramatic end in Everett.
Groshong was arrested after police said he him several other cars. Officers said they had to use a Tazer several times while arresting him.
In Granite Falls, McTear was bruised, her car totaled. But she still has a message of compassion for Groshong.
“If he does go to jail, it’s probably the best place for him to be to turn his life around.”
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