Woman escapes after being forced to drive to ATM in Irving

IRVING, Texas - Police are looking for a man who jumped into the back of a woman’s car and forced her to drive to an ATM for money.

It was a harrowing ordeal for a woman who was simply looking at her phone before work Monday morning. Suddenly, she says a man she’s never seen before was in her car and threatened to hurt her.

Police say the robber who targeted Kathryn Brewer is 29-year-old Albert Sell of Cisco, Texas. They released a photo of him in hopes someone will recognize him.

“I parked as usual. Decided to check my phone before I went in. Looked at Facebook. While I was doing that, a man opened up my back door and jumped in my car,” she recalled. “He yelled, ‘Drive! Drive! Drive! Don’t make me hurt you!’”

Brewer says he ordered her to drive around Dallas for an hour and a half.

“As soon as I stopped the car, he said ‘This is actually a robbery. Give me all your money,’” she recalled. “I handed him my purse that had $5 in it. Then, he demanded I go to bank ATM.”

The whole time, Brewer said she was planning her escape.

“I was terrified,” she said. “I wanted to get somewhere where people were.”

Once at Wells Fargo, Brewer decided to make a run for it with her car keys in hand. Her plan worked, and the suspect also took off running.

“I didn’t have the urge to breakdown,” she said. “I was able to be calm. After it was over, I ran from him and was shaking.”

James McLellan with the Irving Police Department says Brewer did the right thing by staying calm.

“It could have ended so much worse,” he said. “Taken off somewhere never to be seen again.”

Sell has outstanding warrants for aggravated assault in Eastland County. Ge also has prior convictions on his record for misdemeanor assault and evading arrest.

“He could be anywhere,” McLellan said. “If anyone knows his whereabouts, call us.”

“Because I was at work at a place I am every day, my guard was down,” Brewer said. “If anything is the lesson, you can’t allow your guard down even in a familiar place.”

Police are not revealing how they identified a suspect, but they do say Brewer had never met Sell before. Anyone with information about him is asked to call 911 immediately or submit a tip to ipdcrimetips@cityofirving.org.