YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) – A carjacking victim at Arizona Western College on Wednesday shares with KYMA what crossed his mind at gunpoint.
NAU Yuma Professor Alma Sandigo had just arrived at work when a man approached her and demanded she hand over the keys to a brand new Acura.
“It was one of those cars you know that had a start button and he didn’t know how to steer so he said ‘Tell me how it works or I’ll shoot you’ so I I had to tell him how to turn on my car,” Sandigo explains.
She tried to keep her composure, but inside she said she was scared.
She added that she was grateful to be alive today.
“I’m grateful that at least he had the personality not to shoot,” says Sandigo.
Sandigo said he may have been using drugs based on the suspect’s demeanor.
“He was so nervous. He was bouncing back and forth,” says Sandigo.
Sandigo said her privacy had been violated and immediately called her husband, who helped her out of the horrific situation.
“It didn’t feel good knowing someone was on your property and then touching your thing and destroying it without remorse,” continues Sandigo.
Sandigo confirms that her car is a total loss and says the suspect threw everything in her car, including her husband’s new wheelchair.
Alfredo Panduro Zendejas, 44, from Yuma, was killed in a crash after stealing a total of three cars and attempting his fourth theft on Wednesday.
The Yuma Police Department said Zendejas had an extensive violent criminal record, including time spent in prison.
It all started around 7:45 am when the Yuma County Sheriff’s Office received a report that a large water truck and two firearms had been stolen from Arabee Road and County 9 ½ Street.
Later, at approximately 9:12 am, YPD received a report of another carjacking attempt near a Marine Corps Air Station.
According to a press release, a Hispanic man threatened a 45-year-old woman with a gun and tried to rob her car, but it did not move.
The suspect then boarded a large water tanker and stole it later that day.
Around 10 a.m., the suspect carjacked a purple Acura in the AWC parking lot and threatened a 51-year-old woman with a gun.
The suspect left the scene in an Acura, leaving the water truck behind.
Later, around 10:41 a.m., the stolen purple Acura was found on 16th Street and Pacific Avenue, but then went missing in the 24th Street and Kennedy Lane area.
At 3:57 p.m., the stolen Acura was pursued by Somerton police heading north on Avenue 3E, resulting in a multi-agency pursuit.
The chase headed east on I-8, onto Foothills Boulevard, back west on North Frontage Road, then south on Avenue 8E.
Then continue east on South Frontage Road, which caused the accident at Fortuna and South Frontage.
The suspect continued on to Foothills Boulevard, heading west on North Frontage Road, heading north on Fortuna Road, and heading west on Highway 95.
The suspect then abandoned the Acura at 16th Street and Pate Drive and fled north on foot.
According to a press release, the suspect shot at a Public Security Bureau vehicle and carjacked a small silver car at 15th and South Lee Drive.
The suspect threatened a woman in her 70s with a gun and opened fire twice near the victim and her passenger, but no one was hurt.
The pursuit continued through the Yuma Palms Regional Center Mall to Guis Parkway, down to Avenue B, and heading south.
The vehicle was headed to County 15th Street and 3E Avenue, where the suspect collided with a semi-truck at an intersection, according to a press release.
