This week one woman’s vacation – and then some – turned upside down a scammer Posing as a holiday toy drive donor, she was attacked and kidnapped.
Erin Quinn, a volunteer for the local holiday toy drive in her Southern California community, didn’t think much of it when she received a text message from an unknown number claiming it was from an old lady who was collecting gift donations. wanted to do, KTLA reported,
Quinn accepted, and the swindler – who called herself Connie in the messages – gave her an address to pick up donations.
On Wednesday, when Quinn arrived home and started walking home, she got another message saying someone would bring toys to her car.
But when Quinn returned to her vehicle, someone was already waiting for her inside — and that’s when things got out of control.
A woman sitting in his back seat pulled Quinn’s hair and shocked him with a Taser, then ordered him to start driving.
In approximately 25 minutes, Quinn – who by that time had been hit with the Taser approximately 30 times – crashed the vehicle.
Both the women came out of the car and started fighting. According to KTLA, in fighting his attacker, Quinn lost part of his finger.
“I kicked him as hard as I could,” Quinn told the outlet.
“He tried to put his fingers in my mouth, probably in an attempt to tear my mouth apart, and in complete panic, I bit off part of his finger in self-defense because I didn’t know what else to do.”
Quinn said that at that moment she recognized her attacker – her former housekeeper, Olga Mendez, who was wearing a blonde wig.
Quinn was only able to escape when a bystander – whom she called her “hero” – ran to help, although “several construction workers around the area witnessed (what was happening), videotaped, and Nothing was done,” he lamented.
Quinn’s legs were bruised, her head was burned, her hair was torn out and her nails were broken.
Local authorities have not arrested any suspects yet – but Quinn is convinced it was her old maid, who may have been plotting to smuggle her across the border.
“I strongly believe that his plan was to kidnap me and take me to Mexico for ransom or sale,” Quinn said.
“I am completely scared. I don’t know why she would do that.”
“I was just trying to help out with the Christmas toy drive and I thought I’d actually be able to stop by to pick up these gifts before I started my workday,” Quinn said, adding that her “whole world changed. has been “turned upside down after a terrible ordeal”.
A GoFundMe Fundraiser Founded by a close friend, Quinn has so far raised $1,890 of its $8,000 goal.
