Townsville crime: Carjacking victim forced into bizarre pinky promise with thief

A young woman has recounted the bizarre moment a balaclava-wearing carjacker threatened and forced her to make a pinky promise before taking off in her new MG. See what he made her promise.

Carjacking victim Haylee Robbins, 19, says a balaclava-wearing thief made her pinky promise not to track him and promised to bring back her new MG. Picture: Evan Morgan

A young woman has recounted the bizarre moment a balaclava-wearing carjacker threatened and forced her to make a pinky promise before taking off in her new MG.

Nineteen-year-old Haylee Robbins was stepping out of her new MG5 on Hugh St, West End, at around 6:30pm on Tuesday when her world turned upside down.

As she got out of her vehicle, masked thieves in a stolen car descended upon her, setting the stage for a nightmarish encounter.

“A tall man wearing a balaclava towered over me, yelling and demanding the keys to my car,” Haylee recounted.

She noticed him holding something in his pocket, which she feared was a knife.

“I begged him not to hurt me, and he said no one would if I handed over the keys.”

Police are investigating after a MG5 was stolen from Hugh St, West End at 6.30pm on Tuesday. Picture: Supplied

“Then a little kid stuck his head out of the sedan and said take her phone from her.

“I again begged and begged that they didn’t, and the kid then saw my vape and said take her vape too.”

In a surreal moment, the man about to steal Haylee’s car turned to her and said, “You might be tracking us.”

When she swore she wasn’t, he demanded a pinky promise.

“He put his finger out and made me pinky promise I wasn’t tracking them and promise the car would be back at 6am the next day,” she said.

“I really don’t know what to think of the pinky promise. He looked really worried that I would track him.”

As of Wednesday, Haylee’s car still hasn’t been recovered, and the emotional scars from the incident run deep.

“I had just bought the vehicle a month ago,” she said. “The amount of fear they put me through was worse than losing the car.”

“It really shows how vulnerable young women are.”

Her harrowing experience comes just days after another woman was targeted by car thieves in a separate incident in North Ward.

The woman was injured after attempting to intervene as her car was being stolen from on Cook Street around 8.45pm on Monday night.

Queensland Ambulance Service attended and transported her to Townsville University Hospital for treatment.

Investigations into both incidents are ongoing.

Originally published as Townsville crime: Carjacking victim forced into bizarre pinky promise with thief