ST. LOUIS — Two carjackings just around the block from each other in Dogtown in the span of one week have people who live there on edge.
The first happened Saturday, September 8, in the 1500 block of Tamm Avenue. The second happened Saturday, September 15, in the 1400 block of Gregg Avenue.
That second one happened right outside Katelyn Taylor’s house.
"As a woman hearing another woman screaming, I just knew something was wrong,” she said.
Katelyn and her boyfriend are the only ones who heard and came outside to see what was going on.
"Her car was parked here. She had pulled over. And the guys must have came from this direction,” she showed us.
Those guys were already taking off when Katelyn called 911. She stayed with the woman until police arrived.
"She honestly was holding it together better than I was even holding it together,” she said.
That was the second carjacking in Dogtown in a week. The first happened just around the block the weekend before.
"Now you just have to be cautious no matter how you feel, even in the neighborhood I’ve lived in my whole life. You know, things are changing,” she said.
Katelyn thinks she knows why it's happening here. The location makes for an easy getaway.
"We're close to 44 and 40,” she said.
But she says she and her neighbors will stand up for each other.
"If Dogtown sticks together and looks out for one another, hopefully, the crime will go back down,” she said.
Preventing carjackings
5 On Your Side reached out to Mike Barbieri, a personal security expert with Global Intelligence Consultants, for some tips on how to avoid being carjacked.
