Calgary father stops alleged carjacking with his children in the backseat
A Calgary father says he's traumatized after a man attempted to steal his vehicle while his two children were still in the backseat.
Jonathan Bandialan was picking up dinner from a restaurant along Memorial Drive N.E. Wednesday when his dash-cam captured the terrifying scene.
Bandialan's 16-year-old son Jezthene and two-year-old daughter were waiting in the warm vehicle when the video shows a man appear in front of the van. He circles back a few times, looking inside, before he can be heard entering the vehicle's front seat.
A short exchange with Jezthene ensues, where the man orders the teen to leave the vehicle.
"I'm taking the van," he can be heard saying, “Get out."
"I wanted to fight, but he's tall and I (was) so scared," Jezthene told CTV News.
But his father says Jezthene's quick thinking saved the day.
The teen was able to stall the man, saying he needed to help his sister out of the van and grab his belongings before leaving.
That's when he says he phoned his dad, who was just metres away in the restaurant.
"He told me, in Filipino words, 'Dad, hurry up,'" Bandialan said. "And so I ran out. He opened the door already so I could easily get in."
The van's back door was thrown open, and on the footage, Jonathan can be heard entering the moving vehicle as the man pulls out of the parking lot.
"I grabbed him right away and he tried to fight back," Bandialan said. "He's a big guy. Strong, too."
But luckily for the family, the father is trained in martial arts. Using the back of the front seat as leverage, he was able to pin the man from the van's middle seats.
"I got a chance to choke him, I used my strength and then I heard him speaking," he said.
On the recording, just seconds after the struggle started, the man can be heard begging to be let free. As Bandialan's young daughter cried, Jezthene pulled the parking brake and the vehicle came to a stop.
Despite Bandialan's best efforts, he says the man was able to escape and flee the scene.
The father briefly considered chasing the man again, but says he decided against it.
"I just wanted to get back my son, my daughter, you know," Bandialan said. "I don't think about my car, that's a material thing."
Police were phoned and an investigation is ongoing, but officers say no arrests have been made.
Anyone who may have more information about what happened is asked to contact police or Crime Stoppers.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.