Vermilion Parish girl is attacked at UL; she fights off attacker while he drives off in her car

Haley Baudoin, 21, is alive today thanks to the advice her father, Gerard, gave her years ago.
Haley is the UL student who was attacked Tuesday morning near the campus, then thrown into the back seat of her silver 2008 Mustang by the attacker before he attempted to drive off with her car and her in the backseat.
He drove her car about a block, but then he got tired of her screaming, kicking and scratching him as he drove. He stopped the vehicle and said he would let her out if she would not call the police. She agreed, but she also lied and called the police and then her father.
On Wednesday, Haley was still shaken up by the incident. She did not go to UL and probably will miss a few more days.
The attacker has yet to be arrested as of Wednesday afternoon, and her car may be in Lake Charles.
The ordeal was the longest few minutes of her life.
“I was waiting in my car for my boyfriend to get back because we walk to class together,” said Haley. “I got out of my car to get something out of the back seat, and the guy approached me. I did not know what direction he came from, but I saw him coming forward. He asked me, ‘Mam, do you have a lighter for my cigarette?’ I said, ‘No.’ He came up to me, and I knew something was wrong.”
Haley said the man, who was the same height as her, 5-8, went to embrace her from the side and then grabbed her and threw her in the backseat of her two-door Mustang. As he threw her in the backseat, she kept one leg out of the car and then the other leg continuously kicking him behind his neck as he sat in the driver’s seat.
“I kept kicking him. I was trying to break his neck,” she added. “He put his hand in my mouth to either silence me or choke me. I kept beating him and clawing him.”
The man began to back the car out as Haley continued to scream and kick. A few yards down the road, he stopped and said he would let her out of the car if she did not call the police.
“I told him no (I would not call the police) and got out of the car as fast as possible,” said Haley. “I was still screaming and that is when the neighbors came out and helped. The neighbors are who called the cops.”
Haley, still shaken, called her father but did not let him know the whole story. She told him, while on the phone, that her car was stolen at UL; he needed to come. He and his wife, Helen, drove to UL and checked on their daughter and her stolen car. When they arrived, they learned the whole story.
“I tell all of my children to be aware of your surroundings,” said Gerard. “Also, if you are in a situation to fight. If she would have been in the backseat crying, I don’t think we would be talking to our daughter today. Haley did what she had to do. She defended herself, and it saved her life.”
She said when he approached her and began pushing her into the car, she realized she was in trouble and needed to do whatever she could to escape. Fighting is not something she has ever done before.
“I have never hit anyone in my life or been in that situation before,” she said. “I am not sure if it was panic or pure adrenaline that kicked in that helped me. We were the same size. I guess when he saw I was beating the crap out of him, he knew he would not get away with me still in the car.”
Haley said the man never punched her or tried to knock her out as they stood next to the car or while she was inside the car. Her face got scratched and bruised because his hand tried to cover her mouth to make her stop screaming.
More than 24 hours after the attack, Haley is still not comfortable being alone. She lives at home with her family in the Maurice area. As Tuesday night approached, and everyone went to bed, she said she became worried. She got more scared when she was in the house alone Wednesday morning.
“I know I do not want to be on campus for a while by myself. I know I will figure out ways to be more comfortable with what happened. I will have to take it day by day and see how it goes.
“As of right now, I do not want to be by myself at all.”