ATLANTA — An Atlanta woman shared her harrowing story of fighting off an attempted carjacking.

She says she was thrown to the ground, punched and bitten, and she is convinced the suspect was trying to kill her.

Monae Lewis says the incident happened in Buckhead on Sidney Marcus and Piedmont Road, where the victim stopped to let her dog out.

“People need to know,” Lewis said.

She had just gotten into her car with her dog Shadow when she heard a bang on the window.

“Next thing I know, my door just swung open, and he literally pulled me out of the car and started choking me. It wasn’t all the way around my throat. It was right here. That’s how I knew he was trying to kill me,” said Lewis through tears.

She thought she was going to die until her Labrador pit bull mix dog named Shadow jumped out and bit her attacker.

“After Shadow had bit him, he let go of me for a second. When he let go of me, I got up and ran to the car to try and get my gun.”

But the fight wasn’t over.

The man attempted to drive off while still fighting with Lewis and crashed into trees in the process. Pictures show how her face was beaten, leaving her with black eyes, a broken eye socket, her hair torn out, and 14 bite marks on her back.

“He started punching me, and that when he started biting me to make me let go of the gun when he realized the punches were not doing anything,” said Lewis.

Eventually, police arrived, and the suspect, Jarius Anderson, was arrested and charged with aggravated assault, battery and hijacking of a motor vehicle. But Lewis is convinced her attacker wanted more than just her car.

“I just want to know why, because I didn’t do anything. If he honestly wanted the car, he could’ve took the car,” said Lewis.

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