Lake Charles woman fears for her life, claims she was shot at and chased

Lake Charles, LA (KPLC) - A Lake Charles woman said she feared for her life after being chased and shot at while driving home from work last week on Interstate 10.

An uneasy feeling came to Nikita Starlard early Thursday morning as she was getting home from work and sitting in the driveway on South Lyons Street.

“Right before I was about to get out of the car, I seen the charger with it’s lights on parked on the back street and that’s when it started coming across the field and was swerving and cut it’s lights off,” Starlard said.

Starlard said she didn’t feel safe enough to go inside her home, so instead, she pulled back out of her driveway as the charger was coming back.

“I seen the car come around the corner and as soon as it got in front of my grandmother’s house, they start firing shots and that’s when I had to hit a right turn then a left turn and by the time I turned under the bridge, the car was like right on my tail shooting again,” Starlard said.

Heading toward I-10, she said the car was still following her.

“I was just screaming like I was crying,” she said. “That’s all I could think about is drive away, get away from this person. Get away.”

When she was on the interstate, she called 911 and was able to meet the police at the Iowa exit.

“I just thought I was going to lose my life,” Starlard said. “I just imagine if I didn’t think and I did stay right there and not did anything, the person probably would have shot into my car while I was sitting there.”

KPLC checked with Lake Charles Police who tell us they are investigating the incident, but they say that’s not all to the story. Police said not only did they speak to the driver of the charger, but said that the driver also claims they were being shot at that morning.

Neither car had any damage from any type of bullets, according to police.

On Monday, KPLC returned to the scene on South Lyons Street to get video for our story and found bullet casings still on the ground. We called the police, who then came back out to retrieve them. Of course, we don’t know if this is connected to the incident from last week, but police are investigating.

As for Starlard, she wants to remind others to be aware of their surroundings and trust their gut if they feel unsafe.

“When you find yourself in a situation like that, think,” she said. “Make sure you use your common sense. Like if something’s telling you to stay in the car and drive away, drive away. That’s what something was telling me.”

7News asked police if the driver of the second car filed a report as well, or if police questioned that driver after the woman’s complaint was filed. They wouldn’t tell us, saying it’s part of the investigation.

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