Accident

Brandie Weiler was driving along when she saw a serious car accident happen just ahead of her. Brandie did the right thing and pulled over, leaving her car, with her 2 daughters inside, she ran to the wreck to check on the occupants.

Brandie was on the phone with 911 when a man decided to take advantage of the distraction. Paul Salsman ran towards the unlocked car, knowing that the driver was away from the vehicle and wouldn't be able to stop him.

He hadn't counted on little 12-year-old Maddie Weiller.

Fight Or Flight

As soon as the strange man entered the car Maddie's instincts took over.

"I just went for it," she told WTKR news. "Nothing passed my mind except: 'He's a psycho and he needs to get out of the car."

The car was turned off but  the keys were left in the ignition. Maddie put the car into Drive, making it impossible for Salsman to start the engine. She began screaming and punching the carjacker in the face while he frantically tried to get the car to go.

Escape

Brandi saw the man enter the car and immediately ran back towards her daughters.

"I could see him going toward the can and I was screaming," she said.

She was yelling for her daughters to get out of the car. Mollie, just 7-years-old, escaped, but when Maddie didn't emerge from the car Brandi was terrified something was happening to her.

She didn't need to be worried.

Maddie was so intent on beating the would-be carjacker that she didn't even hear her mother's pleas. She kept wailing on the man until he fled the car.

Police say he tried to steal another car, but gave up on that one too and fled into the woods. He was apprehended hours later and faces charges of carjacking, attempting kidnapping and driving under the influence.