Mom fights off carjacker with kids in backseat

Dorothy Baker-Flugence returned to her minivan with her two young children after shopping in Baytown, Texas, when Ismael Martinez, armed with a knife, popped up from the back seat and ordered her to drive to an ATM.

Police say a two-year-old boy and his five-year-old sibling were inside the minivan. "The guy pulled a knife on her," said Charles Flugence, the victim's husband. "He had a knife on my son."

Flugence says his wife told him she struggled with Martinez, honked the horn and somehow called 911 while prying the knife away from the assailant.

"She got the knife," Flugence said. "She got a cut that goes across her chest. She grabbed the knife and he bit her hand."

Police say Baker-Flugence ran her van intentionally off the road trying to disorient Martinez. She was hoping that a 911 dispatcher would hear and send help. When she saw a telephone pole, she sped up and attempted to ram it.

"I thought, 'If you swerve and hit the pole, he's not wearing a seatbelt, he'll go through the windshield or at least hit his head, and you can stop him. You can do something to make sure that he doesn't hurt your kids,'" Baker-Flugence said.

When the van stopped, Baker-Flugence punched the man in the face, and he jumped out of the vehicle. That's when she reportedly ran over him.

"She got into a struggle with the man while trying to protect her children," said Lt. Eric Freed with the Baytown police. "She actually overpowered him. At some point in time, he jumped from the vehicle and was run over by the vehicle."

"That's all I was thinking of really, was just to get him away from my kids," Baker-Flugence said.

Martinez was taken to the hospital with serious injuries to his back, and was listed in stable condition Friday night. Martinez's criminal history includes rape and burglary convictions. He is expected to face charges for the attack on the Flugence family.

"She's my hero. I'll take her anywhere. I'll take her anywhere twice on Sunday," Flugence said of his heroic wife. "She's a tough one. I wouldn't have it any other way."