NYC Mom Fights Off Park Attacker With Bike Pump

It's a story that could have had a very bad ending: Mary Jane Jarman was jogging on New York's Hudson River Greenway this morning when a man, wielding a piece of broken glass, appeared. She started to "run for her life," in the words of DNAinfo—while pushing her 8-month-old son in a stroller. She made it only about 300 feet before he caught up with her and tackled her to the ground. The stroller tipped over as well; in it was a hand-held bike pump. The 33-year-old managed to grab the pump and hit him on the head until it shattered, and he started to bleed. "I was protecting [my baby] with my life," she says.

The man fled, reportedly saying, "I'm really sorry, I'm sick," as he did so. Jarman remains convinced of his intentions: He "didn't try to get my phone. His sole intent was to hurt me," she tells DNAinfo, adding that she always packed the metal pump with self-defense in mind. She couldn't get a cell signal in the wooded area, and a biker eventually came to her aid; police are looking for the man. DNAinfo reports that the path has a shady recent history; the NYPD issued a warning to bicyclists using it in early September, following two brutal August attacks, reports CBS New York. In one, a biker was felled by a rope stretched across the path, beaten with brass knuckles, and robbed. (More moms stories.)