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A Wisconsin woman, who allegedly confessed to striking two individuals with her vehicle in a Facebook post before proceeding to stab a stranger, has been taken into custody. The unsettling sequence of events has sparked widespread concern and outrage.
In a Facebook video cited by US Weekly, Katelyn A. Harmon reportedly boasted about evading law enforcement, remarking, “I guess I outsmarted the cops.” She continued, “Someone should call the cops on me. I mean, I was a good person and now I’m homeless. So, apparently, good people don’t win anymore. Whoops — still won.” US Weekly was unable to independently verify the video.
The 25-year-old Harmon now faces several serious charges, including Attempted First-Degree Murder. Authorities allege that her crime spree began when she struck two people with her car in an Illinois mall parking lot, followed by a stabbing incident involving a butcher knife.
The troubling events unfolded on February 2, when Illinois police responded to reports of a Toyota Camry colliding with a 79-year-old man and a 60-year-old woman in the parking lot of a Hobby Lobby, part of the Gurnee Mills Mall. The details emerged from a “Petition to detain” document acquired by Oxygen.
According to the petition, the male victim suffered a brain bleed and was found bloody and fluctuating between consciousness and unconsciousness. The female victim incurred minor leg injuries. Both were hospitalized while the driver, identified as Harmon, allegedly fled the scene.
After reviewing CCTV footage cited in the document, police determined that the driver had accelerated directly toward the man, who had been standing behind his parked car. The man flew through the air, said police, before landing on the ground.
The driver then turned into the next aisle, stated the document, struck the woman and drove off. The woman told police that she had been walking through the parking lot when she heard a crash and saw a speeding car headed toward her. The woman jumped onto a curb, she said, but the car struck her leg.
Less than an hour later, according to the document, officers were flagged down by citizens who reported a physical altercation behind a BBQ restaurant near Hobby Lobby.
Upon arrival, officers said Harmon, who was with an unidentified man, ran toward them and was subsequently arrested.
Officers also located a 30-year-old male victim with multiple stab wounds on his hand, who claimed that he had been sitting inside his car when Harmon approached with a knife.
Harmon started knocking on his window with his knife, the victim told police in the document, then stabbed his front tire. The victim said he exited his car and Harmon lunged at him. During a struggle, the victim said he threw the knife aside and pinned Harmon to the ground until authorities arrived.
Police discovered a Facebook video, which they say was recorded by Harmon near the BBQ restaurant before the alleged stabbing.
In the video, police noted that Harmon sat inside her Toyota Camry, displaying the knife that was used in the attack, and that her damaged windshield was visible. Harmon also wrote a Facebook post, per police, in which she acknowledged that she “ran people over” in a parking lot.
Harmon told police that she traveled to Illinois from Wisconsin “for premeditated murder,” adding that she drove through the parking lot for 10 minutes before striking one victim—noting his face as it hit her windshield—and attempting to hit the other.
After leaving the lot, Harmon told police, she parked behind a restaurant and waited for the police to find her.
Forty-five minutes later, Harmon told police, she scraped a knife on the third victim’s car window and when he wouldn’t exit his car, she popped his tire with the knife. Harmon also acknowledged that she tried to stab him.
Harmon told police, as noted in the petition, that she would want to kill again, if she were released from custody.
Aside from attempted murder, Harmon is charged with Failure to report crash/injury, Aggravated battery/great bodily harm, Aggravated battery/use of deadly weapon.
Harmon is held in the Lake County Jail and her next court date is Feb. 26, according to court documents reviewed by Oxygen. Harmon has not yet entered a plea. A public defender for Harmon did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Oyxgen.com.