Woman wards off captor with perfume

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas, April 1 (UPI) -- Police said a Corpus Christi, Texas, woman who was held prisoner in her car for more than two hours escaped her captor after spraying him with perfume.

Police Cmdr. David Torres said a man forced the woman to drive him around the city and stole $80 and a cell phone from his victim before fleeing after she doused him with Elizabeth Arden Red Door perfume, the Corpus Christi Caller-Times reported Tuesday.

Torres said the man, who wielded a knife with black tape on the handle, had tricked his victim into stopping her car by lying down in front of the vehicle.

"It's not common for someone to lay himself in front of a vehicle -- he should be glad the driver was paying attention and stopped," Torres said.

Police are searching for the suspect, who was described as a black man in his early 40s standing between 6 feet and 6 feet 3 inches tall.