A woman who was sitting near Gravelly Point on Saturday afternoon said a man accused of stealing multiple vehicles, including an ambulance, tried to lure her into a truck during the mayhem.
Police say the man stole two trucks and an ambulance and smashed into more than a dozen vehicles in Northern Virginia and D.C. He stole a construction truck and crashed it, stole a pickup and crashed it, and finally stole an ambulance whose crew responded to a crash scene.
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WATCH HEREDarell T. Caldwell, 30, of Brandywine, Maryland, was arrested in D.C. after leaving a trail in wreckage.
A woman told News4 she was sitting near Gravelly Point when she heard the first of two crashes on Interstate 395.
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SIGN UP "It was a large accident, full impact, so I knew it was a big accident," she said.
Video shows a man jumping out of the passenger side door and heading toward Gravelly Point, which is just north of Reagan National Airport.
"That’s when he popped out of the woods and stood on the path," the woman said. "And he stood on the path and just turned his head and just stared at me as I approached him."
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"When he passed me, he motioned if I had a lighter," she said. "I shook my head no."
She kept walking and he asked her for a lighter twice more.
The next thing she knew, he was back, but now driving on the path in a pickup truck. He drove right alongside her.
"I’m walking, walking, and then boom, right there, he’s right next to me on the path in the truck motioning with his lips to get in the truck now," the woman said. "So that’s when I began to run across the field."
She was able to get to her truck as she spoke with police. She said she watched the man continue to drive along the path around the parking lot.
He headed onto the George Washington Parkway the wrong way. Then she heard another crash.
Soon after, the man was behind the wheel of the ambulance that responded, fleeing once again.
The woman gave police a statement by phone.
She's disappointed no one stepped in to help her.
"I survived an attempted abduction," she said. I don’t know how else to say it, bluntly. I’ve never been in fear for my life, so there's a first for everything, I suppose."
Once Caldwell was finally taken into custody, he collapsed and had to be given Narcan, sources told News4.
Caldwell is expected to face charges in Virginia and D.C. at the state and federal levels.
Stay with NBC Washington for more details on this developing story.
