A woman was ambushed in her car outside a McDonald's in Sartell, Minn., forced to drive around, choked until she was unconscious and then pushed out of the vehicle in another city, authorities said Thursday.
The 56-year-old woman went into a Coborn's Superstore in downtown Sauk Rapids for help, then was treated at a hospital for injuries and released, police said.
No arrests have been made in the crime, which involved two masked men, and authorities have yet to determine whether the woman was targeted or chosen at random.
"Because of that uncertainty, the Police Department is asking that people lock their vehicles when going into a business and to check the back seats of their vehicles before entering," said Sartell Police Chief Jim Hughes.
According to police:
The woman told authorities that she stopped at the McDonald's near Hwys. 1 and 15 in Sartell about 9:40 p.m. Wednesday. When she got back behind the wheel, a man hiding in the back and wearing a ski mask ordered her to keep driving. At some point a second masked man was picked up and she was choked until she lost consciousness
The men also demanded money from her as they drove around the St. Cloud area until pushing her from the vehicle in Sauk Rapids.
Police in that city located the abandoned car. Its interior had been set on fire.
