Reply #76: Yeah, he outsmarted the guy

[Xithras]

He had a very nice old GMC Stepside pickup with saddle tanks (3 gas tanks, which was a factory option for many years). He offered the guy a ride, and after talking about how "awesome" the old truck was for a while, the hitchhiker pulled a knife on him and told him "I'm not going to hurt you, I just want the truck". My stepdad offered to stop and get out, but the kidnapper refused and instead started giving him directions to a remote farming area.

At one point in the drive, the kidnapper wasn't paying attention, so my stepdad reached down and turned the fuel tank knob from the primary tanks, to the practically empty saddle tanks. A couple of miles down the road, the truck finally shuddered to a stop. Here's where the quick thinking part comes in. My stepdad admitted to the kidnapper that the truck was out of gas, and that it had saddle tanks which contained fuel. He told the guy that the tanks could only be switched by tur9ning a knob under the hood. With the kidnappers permission, he opened his door and slid out and the kidnapper slid across the bench seat behind him. As the kidnapper was starting to slide out of the truck, however, my stepdad threw his entire body weight against the door, slamming it on the guys body (and GM used heavy steel on their doors back them). He then slammed the guy a few more times with the door, and took off across a cornfield for a nearby farmhouse. The guy chased him a very short distance before taking off in another direction.

My stepdad made it to the farmhouse and was OK, and the local deputies picked up the kidnapper a couple miles away...trying to hitch a ride on the side of the road. He ended up spanding 4 years in jail for carjacking and a handful of other charges. My stepdad got a CCW, but until the day he died he NEVER stopped picking up hitchhikers.