EXCLUSIVE: Woman pistol whipped, plays dead to survive robbery

MISSOURI CITY (KTRK) -- A young nursing student was pistol whipped outside a friend's apartment Tuesday night.

Chantelle Clarke had just bought a new car. She left the dealership around 9pm and drove to pick up her friend at the Quail Valley Apartments on FM 1092. A man followed her through the gate and into the parking lot.

"My window was still down," Clarke said. "He just turned around and grabbed my head, and he was like speaking in Spanish, 'Give me money, give me money.'"

He reached through the open window, grabbed her by her hair piece and ripped out her hair.

"He just started pounding my head with the back of the gun, and if I could count it, maybe 18 times that he hit my head," Clarke said.

She decided to play dead.

"So I just slumped down, took a few more hits without my hands being up and he ran away," Clarke said.

Once the man left, Clarke got a good look at him and the car he was in.

Missouri City police officers were able to find and arrest 28-year-old Gustavo Aguilar Rodriguez. Clarke was taken by ambulance to identify Rodriguez once police detained him.

"I'm in the back of an ambulance with my head draining blood, and he's just calm," Clarke said.

Despite having multiple stitches and staples in her head, Clarke is not allowing this terrifying experience to haunt her.

"I am blessed," Clarke said. "God had me, you know."

She hopes other women learn from her story by never sitting in their cars once they've arrived at their destinations.