Roselle woman: 'I figured if I get in the car, I'm dead'

The woman whose car Robert Maday was driving when he crashed Friday credits her Sicilian nature and strong will for the ability to resist the gunman's order to get back in the car as he carjacked it. And she's convinced that saved her life.

Domenica Saverino talked about her ordeal Saturday outside the Roselle condominium where she lives.

Not only did the 32-year-old receptionist at a Hoffman Estates dental office have the sense to refuse to get in the car with Maday Friday morning, she actually took her house keys off the ring before handing him the car keys.

"I just know you are never supposed to get in the car with anybody. They always say 'fight and don't get in the car.' I figured if I get in the car, I'm dead. At least they'll find my body here."

Some people will think she's crazy, but others will credit her with a strong will, she said.

"Being the person that I am with my attitude and my Sicilian nature, I just said, 'I'm not getting in the car with you.'"

Saverino said she had not read the newspaper or watched the Thursday night news and had no idea who she was dealing with when she arrived at her office parking lot for work Friday morning.

Maday filled her in, she said, quoting him: "Lady, don't you watch the news? I'm the guy who broke out of prison yesterday."

Here's what led up to that exchange, Saverino says: "When I pulled into the parking lot, I saw him sitting on the curb. I thought 'Should I pull in or not. It's a safe neighborhood.' As soon as I got out of the car, he was right next to my door. He mumbled something. He pulled his shirt up to show me that he had the gun."

Saverino wasn't sure she believed the line about his being notorious.

"I stood there for a second. Do I run? What do I do? Thank God he didn't hurt me. He never touched me.

"He said 'Give me your keys and give me money out of your purse.' I said, 'I don't have any money.' I never carry cash. Who does these days?"

Maday took the keys and tried to unlock the car door.

"He couldn't find the key. I unlocked it for him (electronically). I actually took my other keys off the car keys. He said 'Turn it on.' I said 'You know how to use the car, take it.'

"As soon as he slammed the car door, I ran into the office."

Saverino was so shaken she had to run to two phones inside the office of Thomas J. Hoover DDS & Associates before she could find an outside line to call 911.

She was talking to the 911 operator and describing the culprit when she remembered he had said he was an escaped convict.

Then the operator said, "He identified himself to her. That's him. That's him."

Another person in the dental office was staring at Saverino, and "about 14 police cars were in the parking lot."

Saverino said it helped that Maday never pulled the gun out, although she knew he could shoot her at any time. At one point he said, "Lady I don't want to hurt you."

She was afraid before they caught him that Maday might find her address in the glove compartment and use her garage door opener to come to her home. This fear intensified when he identified as the man believed to have robbed a Bloomingdale bank not far from her home. However, police said they did not think he would go to her home.

And Maday was ultimately caught several hours later when he crashed Saverino's Jetta in West Chicago.

Saverino said she spent Friday night with family, fielding calls from worried friends, and had trouble sleeping. On Saturday, she said she was exhausted.

"You never think that something like this will ever happen to you. It's surreal. When it was happening I was just thinking, 'Where are the cameras?' I was expecting someone to jump out with cameras.

"I was definitely scared, but I think I kept my composure for the most part."

Of course, she is trying to straighten things out about the insurance and the car, a 2004 Volkswagen Jetta. It is in federal custody, and she has seen photos and been told it is not drivable but does not know how bad the damage is. A Hoffman Estates detective, who she said has been wonderful, is trying to find out when it can be released.

Even with the insurance payment Saverino does not think she can afford another car. A cousin who lives nearby has loaned her his car.

She says she's glad she listened to her instinct.

"I just need to listen to myself when little voices say, 'Maybe you shouldn't do that or go there. That's a little weird.' It didn't make any sense that he was sitting there."

She's very relieved that they caught Maday and appreciates any help her car was in the capture.

"I don't think it's sunk in yet," said Saverino. "I'm expecting shock at any moment. It doesn't seem real. It was pretty terrifying. I'm just glad I got out of it OK. The angels were watching me."