Lawmaker’s Aide Escapes Carjacker

An aide to Assemblyman Tony Cardenas was carjacked in San Fernando but escaped by jumping from her moving car, police said Wednesday.

Yolanda Fuentes, 26, Cardenas’ district director, had left the assemblyman’s office in the 1200 block of San Fernando Road between 10 and 11 p.m. and was putting items in the passenger seat of her car when a man grabbed her from behind and began choking her, San Fernando Police Det. Jeff Eley said.

The two scuffled, but the man forced her into the Saturn compact, got behind the wheel and sped off, Eley said. As the man turned a corner, Fuentes opened her door and leaped into the intersection.

“She decided, ‘I’m not going along with this,’ ” said Eley, who estimated the car was traveling 20 mph. “It’s usually the kind of thing you hear about on television, but she just did it. She’s really brave.”

Fuentes, a Pacoima resident, suffered scrapes and bruises and was treated at a local hospital.

She told police she did not get a good look at her assailant. Eley said Fuentes thought her assailant was a young Latino with short hair. She did not think he was armed.

“I’m really proud of her,” Cardenas said. “She just said, ‘I wasn’t about to let him do whatever he was going to do.’ That takes guts.”

Fuentes has been working with Cardenas (D-Sylmar) since 1998, said Josh Pulliam, a spokesman for the assemblyman.