What was going to be one of my daughter Madeline’s most exciting nights as a belly dance performer quickly turned into a nightmare.
Madeline and her boyfriend Felipe along with their little pomeranian Neo, were driving from Nevada City to Sebastopol last Saturday February 24th for Madeline to perform with some of her favorite music producers at the Hopmonk.
Once arriving in Sebastopol they stopped at the 76 station at Cotati intersection to buy some supplies. While Felipe went into the store Madeline heard a crash happen behind her with police car lights.
As she turned to see what the noise was she saw a man running on foot coming towards her with a police car chasing him.
The man quickly sees Madeline is alone and the drivers side is empty with the car still running. Madeline realizes the dangerous situation and tries to think of a way to stop him but before she knows it he’s in the car and accelerating in reverse, as she now tries to flee for her life!
As she tries to exit the car as the man is backing up she gets pinned between the passenger door and car, she then blacks out.
Felipe hears her screaming his name and runs out from the store and towards Madeline and sees she is being pinned by the door and being dragged with fear she is going to get run over as the man is backing up. The man rear-ends a gas pump which we think is when Madeline is then thrown from the car and looses consciousness as he then drives off still being chased by the police.
The pursuit continues as they close highway 101 and highway 116 for two hours along with a helicopter following him, but lose him in some trees (he is still at large).
Madeline was rushed to the ER, suffering a serious concussion from the impact and body damage from being dragged and thrown from the car.
Once we knew Madeline was stable and being cared for at the Santa Rosa ER we started our search for Neo their dog.
The police informed us that the man was headed towards Oakland so we started posting on the app next-door and Facebook pet lost and found in all the surrounding counties the following day to find him as soon as possible.
We didn’t know if he would be alive, sold or stolen! It was a very sad and scary time on so many levels but we knew timing was critical!
Thankfully Neo was found late Sunday night by a kind man who happened to look into the abandoned car in Oakland. Neo was in the car for over a day left by himself but we are so relived he is alive and safe!
We are so grateful for Stephen (the nice man who found him) and for the friends and family who helped to get Neo safely back home after several days.
This tragic and violent act has really shaken our family and we are still recovering the best we can.
We are extremely grateful that Madeline is alive and that we found Neo! However there is still a bumpy road ahead as Madeline goes through the recovery process, mentally, emotionally and physically from this violent act.
Madeline has been in and out of the ER the last few days for her concussion and the good news is with time she will heal. Her body is very banged up and bruised and is suffering from a shoulder injury that they are still in the discovery period of understanding if she has a torn ligament….but in time that will also heal.
However, Madeline is a licensed massage therapist and will be unable to work during her healing time as it will be too demanding on her body as she goes through physical therapy and healing from the her concussion.
In addition to the physical pain Madeline will be needing mental health therapy and help getting through the PTSD from this violent act and the violation of her safety.
Their car is not repairable and is in custody for investigation, and many of their belongings went missing.
As a mother this has been one of the scariest things I have ever been through, and for all the mothers I am sure you understand that this is a mother’s worst nightmare!
Although she is alive and safe, and I am aware it could have been so much worse, I want to do anything I can to help Madeline through her recovery.
We are reaching out to our collective community of friends and family at this time to help with any donations you can give.
We appreciate you all and know that it is through the efforts of community we found Neo, it is through the efforts of community that Madeline has had great care at the ERs and hospitals that she has been too, and it will be through community that we will be able to put the pieces back together.
All donations will be directly helping Madeline with bills, rent, therapy, bodywork, and doctors bills while she is out of work.
Thank you all so much for all your love and support at this time!
Below I have linked the news link
https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/suspected-car-thief-still-at-large-after-weekend-highway-101-chase-car-the/?utm_source=article_share&utm_medium=email)" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/suspected-car-thief-still-at-large-after-weekend-highway-101-chase-car-the/?utm_source=article_share&utm_medium=email (https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/suspected-car-thief-still-at-large-after-weekend-highway-101-chase-car-the/?utm_source=article_share&utm_medium=email)