A little girl saved herself and her toddler brother on Monday afternoon when an unknown woman jumped inside their car and sped away from a parking lot in San Diego, near the Mexico border.

ABC7 reports that 8-year-old girl Malaiah and her 3-year-old little brother were waiting in their father’s car for only a few minutes when an unknown woman spotted the vehicle, jumped inside, and sped away. The children’s father, Rodney Cole, left the air conditioning running in the car as he made a quick stop at a beauty supply warehouse in the Lincoln Park neighborhood.

Prior to going into the store, Cole handed his daughter a cellphone and she knew exactly what to do in an emergency: call 911.

“They said, ‘911, what’s your emergency?’ And I said, ‘Me and my little brother got kidnapped.’ She said, ‘Can you tell us where you are? What do you see?’ I said, ‘I see signs that say Mexico border.’ She tried to take the phone from me, but then I moved away from her. She said, ‘Give me the phone or I’m going to drive in circles and crash into the freeway wall,'” Malaiah explained to ABC7.

Cole said he started running toward the car when he saw it leaving but the suspect rolled the windows up and sped away.

Eventually, police spotted the car trying to enter the Mexico border. They quickly detained the suspect and returned the children to their father.

“I’m very proud of her,” a teary-eyed Rodney Cole said about his daughter.

Cole said they don’t know who the suspect is. Police haven’t yet determined a motive.

[Feature Photo: Malaiah /ABC7 Video Screenshot]