Iyani Hughes had reportedly just finished a live report of a car crash for Atlanta affiliate CBS46 and returned to her marked news vehicle to edit video.
An Atlanta reporter working inside a news van shockingly became a part of the story she was covering after a woman allegedly hijacked the vehicle and crashed it about a mile away, according to police and a news report on the station's website.
Iyani Hughes had reportedly just finished a live report of a car crash for affiliate CBS46 and returned to her marked news vehicle to edit video.
She reached over the seat to lock the doors as a "belligerent" woman involved in the crash Hughes had just reported on approached the driver's side. The woman then got behind the wheel and sped away as Hughes fell to the floor and screamed.
Atlanta police were already on the scene and heard Hughes scream for help. They immediately began chasing the van, said Officer Steven Avery in a press conference.
The chase ended when the woman crashed into another car, Avery said. The airbags deployed and Hughes escaped and ran away from the vehicle. She was not injured in the crash but is "still shaken," said CBS45 anchor Karyn Greer, who visited the reporter in the hospital. Hughes has since been discharged.
"As you can imagine, a frightening situation," Greer said in a Facebook Live video. "She was live with us this morning on air and this all happened within minutes of her finishing that live shot this morning."
Greer said Hughes started at the station as an intern and that the incident has affected the entire team.
The suspect, who hasn't been identified, was arrested and is expected to be charged "at the very least" with kidnapping, Avery said. People on the scene of the first crash said the suspect had been acting strangely.
Both the reporter and the suspect are pregnant, police said.
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