Mary Jane Jarman, a mom jogging with her eight-month-old son in a stroller in New York City, fought off a would-be attacker with a bike pump last Friday.
The 33-year-old was jogging on the Hudson River Greenway near Manhattan's Henry Hudson Parkway and 190th Street when she was accosted.
A strange man jumped out from a behind a wall holding a broken glass bottle, she recalled, and menacingly telling her to "Come here, come here."
Jarman began to run for her life, making it about 100 yards down the path before he grabbed her in a bear hug and took her down to the ground.
Her baby stroller was knocked over in the process, but Jarman fought back. After hitting him over the head with the tire pump, she sent him packing.
"I started screaming, trying to attract attention. He came at me," said Jarman, after speaking to police detectives at the 34th Precinct station house.
Jarman said she managed to struggle free and reached for a hand-held bike pump she had in the stroller, bashing the attacker over the head 2-3 times.
Hard, it sounds like.
"I kept hitting him," she said, showing the shattered pieces of what remained of the black and silver metal bike pump, which she brings "to defend myself."
The mother of two said her first thought was to protect her 8-month old son, Thane, who lay silent in the stroller beside her during the terrifying attack.
"I was protecting him with my life," she said. Jarman said the man "didn't try to get my phone" or anything else. "His sole intent was to hurt me."
Jarman said after she beat the man repeatedly, he released her and retreated, telling her in broken English, "I'm really sorry, I'm sick," she said.
The man fled, leaving her shaken and alone.
She said she called 911 repeatedly, but the calls kept dropping in the thickly wooded area. She finally flagged down a biker on the path, who helped her.
Police said they are searching for the attacker, while the jogging enthisiast and mom says the incident left her afraid to use the path home again.
"I'm going to take a different route," Jarman said.
Some pepper spray might be a good idea too.
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