Tulsa Carjacking Victim Describes How She Fought Back

By Lori Fullbright, The News On 6

TULSA, OK -- Tulsa is on pace to set a 10-year high for robberies.  One recent victim stood her ground and survived a frightening encounter with a gunman.

Bettie has been a flight attendant for 40 years and believes her training - especially since 9/11 - is the reason she responded the way she did when she was robbed at gunpoint while hanging Christmas lights near 81st and Harvard.

Two men confronted her Tuesday afternoon as she worked.

"He had the gun next to his stomach and said ‘get in the car' and I said ‘no, I'm not getting in the car.'"

When they realized Bettie didn't have her purse, they took her jewelry.

The man with the gun told her to take off her rings. Her wedding band came off easily. There were other rings she had worn so long she had to get them wet to remove them. The robber told her to hurry up, and the other man came over and took the watch off her wrists. The men then drove away in her car.

12/2/2009 Related story: Tulsa Police Search For Carjacking Suspects

Before they left, they made her sit on the curb.

"That's when it hit me because now my back was to them, and I sat on the curb and stretched my feet out and put my hands on my lap and said okay dear Lord, please don't let them shoot me," Bettie said.

The next day a man called Bettie's home, demanding she pay $800 dollars to get back her car. She called police who set up a sting and caught the caller who in turn led police to 19-year-old Jordan Nunn.

Records show Nunn confessed, and police recovered his gun and Bettie's car.

"You know Lori, when it all happened - the gun situation that day - I felt okay; I really did," Bettie said. "It was the call home, it was the call asking for $800, it was the call going, ‘I know where you live,' that is when my knees buckled."

She says her training dealing with unruly passengers and medical crises as a flight attendant helped her keep calm. She kept eye contact, a straight posture and a firm voice.

"I truly believe that is what saved me. I didn't show any fear, show - any begging or crying or that they had me."

Police are still looking for the second robber. They commend Bettie for staying calm and getting a good description and surviving the encounter.