Terminally Ill Carjacking Victim: I Wasn't Ready to Die
Updated 9:02 AM CST, Thu, Jan 8, 2009
A Denton County man who is fighting cancer came face-to-face with his mortality when he was carjacked Tuesday.
Police said Wallace Eugene Judkins stopped Richard Allen Pratt in the street after he tried to burglarize Reding Ranch in Sanger.
"He said, 'Drive, or I'll kill you,'" Pratt said.
According to police, the homeowner called 911 when he came home and realized the door was kicked in. While the homeowner was talking to dispatchers, Judkins came outside armed with an assault he was stealing and a .45 caliber handgun, police said.
According to police, Judkins fired a shot into the windshield of the homeowner's truck and then ran into the street.
"He was waving frantically at me, tries to tell me that his father's been injured, and he needs help," Pratt said.
Pratt, 54, has been diagnosed with stage-four lung cancer.
"I'm taking chemotherapy treatments to buy as much time as I can," he said. "It's terminal."
Pratt said his instinct was to roll up the window and speed off, but his power windows have a device rolls them down, not up, if obstructed, enabling Judkins to force his way in.
"As the door opened up, he reaches beneath his shirt, pulls out a .45 automatic, jumps in the car and puts it up against the side of my head," Pratt said.
More than a dozen officers pursued the vehicle across part of northern Denton County. Pratt said he kept his feet on the gas and Judkins took the wheel for 20 miles.
"Every time we saw an officer, came to an intersection, (he said) 'If you stop, I'll kill you,'" Pratt said.
Police eventually forced the vehicle into a ditch at a mobile home park off Kings Row and Silverdome Road.
Pratt said Judkins stuffed the gun in Pratt's lap and jumped out of the car, pretending to be the victim when officers surrounded the car.
"I am in the car, with a .45 between my legs, my hands behind my head," Pratt said.
He said he took a boot to the ribs from an officer Judkins had swerved into and almost hit. But Pratt said he understands, because the officer didn't know who had done what until later.
Judkins has a long criminal history. He is being held in jail on suspicion of aggravated kidnapping and attempted murder.
Pratt said cancer has given him time to think about his mortality, but the carjacking has given him a story about cheating death.
"It will be something we can share, for a while, anyway," he said.
First Published: Jan 7, 2009 10:33 PM CST
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