Stick shift stops thieves from stealing elderly woman's car

SEATTLE, WA (KTRK) -- Three teens tried to steal an elderly woman's car in Seattle, but none of them knew how to drive it.

Nancy Fredrickson, 70, was grabbing something from the trunk of her car when suddenly she saw a gun inches from her face.

"You turn around and here's this big gun right here, right here," said Fredrickson.

She dropped her keys and says the three teens then jumped into her Kia. The only problem: none of them knew how to drive a stick shift.

"I've got five speed in there and they couldn't figure out how to get it going," Fredrickson said.

Fredrickson just stood there as the car thieves tried and failed to make off with her car

"They can't drive a stick? That's like unmanly," said Fredrickson's neighbor, Ryan Whitney.

The one thing that held up the suspects may help lead police find them. Fredrickson says she saw officers taking fingerprints off the gear shift and officers also got DNA evidence.

Fredrickson says she never imagined a stick shift would trip up three thieves, but she's thrilled she and her car survived unharmed.

"It was quite an interesting day, let's put it that way," Fredrickson said.