NEW ORLEANS — Monday afternoon, Austin Northcott knew something was wrong in his Mid-City neighborhood.
“I heard screaming, like you’re about to die sort of scream,” said Northcott. “Just not a normal scream.”
Those screams were from 73-year-old Linda Frickey, who police say was carjacked and dragged to death by her own SUV. Witnesses say it happened when a vehicle pulled up next to her parked SUV in the 300 block of N. Scott Street.
“It’s just heartbreaking to see that,” said Northcott.
Witnesses say Frickey was caught in her seatbelt and dragged as her SUV sped off on Bienville Avenue, steps away from Mark and Leanne Mascar’s front door.
VIDEO OF SUSPECTS IN CARJACKING RELEASED
“I just started screaming and running because I just wanted to get this person from this car and if I could do that, I can help this person,” said Leanne Mascar.
Police say Frickey's arm eventually detached from her body just more than a block away on N. Pierce Street, freeing her from the SUV. Neighbors ran over to try and help.
“She was still breathing. She was very slowly breathing,” said Leanne Mascar.
“I tried to call 911,” said Todd Ecker who witnessed the woman be dragged. “Unfortunately, the phone rang for 4 minutes and 45 seconds before I hung up.”
Ecker says someone else eventually got through. The Mascars say it took 10 to 15 minutes for paramedics to get there.
“She’s still breathing. I can feel a pulse and the anger was like where the hell is the ambulance?” said Mark Mascar. “I kept hearing loads of cops show up but no ambulance.”
When an ambulance did show up, paramedics pronounced the woman dead, leaving folks in this neighborhood horrified and police searching for four suspects.
“They didn’t just steal a car, they murdered someone today,” said Mark Mascar.
“It’s Monday at one o’clock in the afternoon. Everybody is out getting lunch not worried about whether or not they’re going to live or not,” said Northcott.
“It was one of the most grotesque, surreal, horrific things I’ve ever seen. Complete reckless abandonment, no regard for human life,” said Ecker.
About 15 blocks away, on the corner of Dumaine and N. Dupre, police found the SUV abandoned in the Bayou St. John neighborhood. It’s two crimes scenes adding to a growing list of deadly violence in New Orleans.
“In the end it’s just the criminals that are ruining it for everyone who lives here,” said Northcott.
“There is something really wrong when you have to walk outside your house and that is part of your day. That some woman is getting dragged down the street,” said Mascar.