New York mom speaks out after being carjacked while nursing baby in backseat

OSSINING -- A young mother had a scary ride when a man jumped in her minivan and tried to steal it, while she was in the backseat nursing her child.

And now, she's speaking out about the harrowing experience exclusively to Eyewitness News.

The suspect, caught with her help, appeared in court Tuesday on kidnapping charges.

"I was scared, I didn't know what was going on," Rosa Naulaquari said in Spanish.

Last week, she and her 5-month-old son Pablo Andres were carjacked in Ossining, allegedly by 34-year-old Brian Paesano. Police say he was high on drugs.

He had two knives, Naulaquari says, which were seized as evidence along with a toy machine gun that police say Paesano was carrying.

The incident happened when Naulaquari's husband pulled over and left the car running while he went across the street to get some food. She was in the backseat breastfeeding her son when the suspect jumped in.

"The mother was screaming in Spanish for help," Ossining police Lieutenant William Sullivan said. "She subsequently was able to get to the front of the vehicle and grab the key out of the ignition, disabling the vehicle."

Naulaquari says because the minivan's locks automatically engage when in motion, she was unable to open the doors. Police say the suspect drove for a mile and a half until Rosa put Pablo back in his car seat, climbed to the front, turned off the ignition and grabbed the the keys.

"Citizens did call 911," Sullivan said. "We had officers there within 40 seconds, so it was a good ending to this crime."

Paesano was arrested without incident and is being held at the Westchester County Jail, while little Pablo is safe in his mother's arms, blissfully unaware of the danger he was in.