Catoosa Woman Shares Story Of Survival After Being Held Hostage, Kidnapped

A Green Country woman is sharing her story of survival after a stranger came into her home in Catoosa, held her, her daughter, and a roommate hostage for two hours, then forced her into her own car and ran from police at 100 miles an hour.

Amber said when he came in, he told her, "police are after me, I've been running and I just need a place to stay, catch my breath and I'll be on my way."

She said she'd never seen Garrett Estes before he came into her home, sweating, paranoid and refusing to leave. She had her daughter call 911 but then sent officers away when they arrived at the house.

Amber said, "the guy followed me out and said, tell them to leave and tell them you're not opening the door, so I had to listen to what he said."

She said while he never had a weapon, he was erratic and her focus was protecting her daughter. She even locked herself and her daughter in the daughter's room for a time but says he insisted she come out, then took Amber on his escape.

Amber said, "he said don't worry, I'm gonna let you go as soon as I get safe, but at that point, there was no getting safe. He was never going to let me go."

Police spotted them and she said he drove up to 100 miles an hour. She called OnStar. They were in a loaner car from a dealership, because her car was in for service.

Amber said Estes told the OnStar operator to call the cops and make them back off. Amber said, "this went on for a long time, screaming, saying back off and I'll let her go, back off and I'll let her go. The OnStar guy said, you're gonna have to stop the car, the cops are not going to back off."

She said that made Estes mad and that made him drive faster. She said she told him she didn't want to die and he told her that would not happen. But he didn't stop until police used a maneuver to stop him, which caused the car to flip, landing on the car’s top.

Amber said, "he unbuckled me and pushed me ahead, wanted to use me as a human shield."

She said police had to use pepper balls, a taser and fight Estes to get him into custody.

Amber said "then, I hear he's been in situations like this before, kidnapped people before, been in jail, so why is he still on the streets? I get the jails are overcrowded, but I think the jails can be overcrowded with people who deserve to be in there."

Amber said she has whiplash from the wreck, internal bruising from the seatbelt and some pepper ball bruises, but is thankful to be alive.

If you would like to support the family, visit this GoFundMe account.