Kidnapping victim says suspect wiped his blood on her during high-speed chase

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A local woman says she was kidnapped by a man whom she and her co-worker were trying to help.

Action News Jax is not releasing her name for her protection.

She only speaks Spanish but Action News Jax's Lorena Inclán translated the interview.

The woman said she was with her co-worker going westbound on J.T. Butler Boulevard near Hodges Boulevard when they noticed a crash. She said she stayed in the car, but her co-worker got out to help.

Police said the person who crashed was 35-year-old Matthew Earl Bennett.

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"I thought it would be the last day of my life," she said. "I thought I would never be able to hug my son again."

She said Bennett was bleeding so they offered to take him to the hospital but, instead, she said, he got behind the wheel and took off with her still inside.

She said Bennett was bleeding profusely and, over the course of the kidnapping, wiped his blood on her.

"He would wipe some blood from his face and put it on me. My ear was full of his blood," she said.

The woman said that, at one point, Bennett grabbed what she described as a screwdriver that was in the car and pointed it at her and tried to throw her out of the moving car.

"I can't forget that face. It was like a face you would see in horror movies," she said.

Bennett was captured in St. Johns County on Thursday after the Sheriff's Office said he later carjacked a deputy's unmarked car.

Sky Action News Jax showed you the aftermath of a pit maneuver that helped put a stop to the crime spree.

The woman said that, every time she tries to sleep, she relives the ordeal.

"A nightmare that I could never imagine because you only see this happen in movies," said the woman.

The kidnapping victim said she was able to get away after police threw stops sticks forcing the car to come to a stop.

"I took advantage at that moment and ran as fast as I could," she said.

Bennett died at the hospital Friday.

The woman will soon get tested for HIV and other diseases.

She said she came to the U.S. seeking a better life for herself and her 16-year-old son, who is the only son she has left after losing a child in her native country.

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