Faye Vangel says she is the woman who called 911 in August while she was inside 12 Oaks Mall in Novi.
She says she was working at the Christian Dior counter near Tappers in the mall, when a smash and grab went down at the jewelry store.
“People were just pushing,” said Faye. “Everyone was pushing. It was chaos."
Faye says hundreds of people were running for their lives.
She says as the mass hysteria unfolded, she noticed an injured elderly woman on the floor with her husband.
Faye says she was knocked down by the thieves as they escaped. She grabbed the couple and they hid in a nearby stock room.
“She had a gouged, bleeding knee. She had a head injury,” said Faye. “The security guard walked into the stock room and looked at her and said, 'you’re okay, you’re okay, right?" She was not okay.”
Faye says, eventually, an ambulance arrived to pick up the woman.
Faye, who says she suffers from an injury from a previous shoplifting incident at the mall, told 7 Action News since this recent case she has resigned from her job.
While she is traumatized over the whole ordeal, she wishes to reunite with the woman she cared for until paramedics arrived.
Faye is hoping that woman sees this report.
“I wanna say. Oh God, I’m so emotional. That I’m glad I got to help you,” said Faye. "I hope you felt safe with me. And your husband, you, I hope to reunite. I really cared for you and I saw how scared you were.”
12 Oaks Mall released this statement regarding our report:
Twelve Oaks management has no record of speaking with this guest and, until this evening, was not made aware of this alleged incident.
Safety and security is the center's number one priority and we can share that 911 was called by Tapper's within seconds of the incident transpiring, and by numerous shoppers. Police were on scene within minutes and we believe security and law enforcement effectively managed the situation and acted in the best interest of our guests at all times.
