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Grandma Fights Off Carjacker
By
Jen Chung
Published Dec 2, 2005
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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By
Jen Chung
Published Dec 2, 2005
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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A man tried to carjack a 65 year-old woman, but Marilyn Toppin was no sitting duck. She ended up fighting back at her attacker for a while before he was able to make off with keys to her 1990 Toyota Avalon. The NY TImes says Toppin felt ready to fight back because she was "trained in self-defense while working as a mental hygiene therapist with the city health department for more than 30 years." Whoa. Further: Toppin used the car for "missionary duties" - she transported the old and infirm to doctors' appointments (she described the thief as "Satan" for taking her car). Toppin says that even thought people were around, no one helped her when they heard her cries: "I would say to the people who didn't help me, they have no love in their soul for New York City." (It seems that one person did make a 911, but that's different from trying to intervene, the way a man stopped a woman from being carjacked in Queens in November.) At any rate, Toppin's children are proud of her fighting spirit, with one adding that the only programming the radio gets is religious. Snap!
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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