Woman Carjacked and Stabbed

Chattanooga police need your help finding a carjacker who sent a woman to the hospital in critical condition.  Erlanger tells us the victim, Sonya Burton, is now listed in fair condition, but it was a much different story Tuesday night.  Police tell us after the suspect forced his way into her car, he stabbed her in the backseat as he drove away.  They say Burton suffered inch wide gashes on her head, neck, and shoulder.  Today, they're looking for the man responsible who they say is armed and dangerous.

Sheila Buford lives nearby South Hickory Street and says she didn't know what to do when she saw a woman, laying in the street bleeding around ten o'clock Tuesday night.  "We was just worried about her, hoping she was alright, we didn't know who it was."

Chattanooga Police spokesperson Jerri Weary says, "It was an incident that happened rather quickly so by all indications it was not something she could avoid, she was just minding her own business. "

Burton tells police it was at the intersection of Anderson Avenue and South Hickory Street that a man forced his way into her car and then forced her into the backseat.  Then, he drove about a block away stabbing her in the head, neck, and shoulder, until he crashed in the brush.

That's when police say the man responsible for taking the victim's car, a Ford Tempo, and nearly taking her life, ran off, and is still on the loose.  Weary says, "Anytime you have an incident of this magnitude you have to assume that the suspect is armed and dangerous."

Weary says it's a dangerous situation that don't see often, and since Burton says she didn't know the man, police say their only advice is to lock your doors.  "We don't know what the motive is in this carjacking, we do know that the victim contained some significant injuries in this incident."

An incident that leaves the victim in the hospital, the suspect on the streets, and neighbors nervous.  Buford says, "Well, that's scary, that's awful, that's awful for something like that to happen to anyone, but I know it's not just here, but it could happen anywhere."

Police say the suspect will be charged with aggravated assault, and could face other charges like carjacking and possibly robbery.  They are now going through the car for missing items, and still searching for the suspect.