Alleged Texas Carjacker No Match for Minivan-Riding 'Mama Bear'

— -- An alleged carjacker is behind bars in Texas after an encounter with a woman police called a "Mama Bear."

Police say Artrai Alexander, 40, robbed a store then carjacked a white Dodge Challenger Wednesday, before leading cops on a high-speed, eight-mile pursuit. The chase ended in a major accident. The Challenger smashed into a minivan being driven by Jessica Liesmann.

Instead of waiting for police to arrive, Liesmann took matters into her own hands. Liesmann and her boyfriend Charles Cook stormed out of the minivan and confronted Alexander, holding onto the straps of his overalls and wrestling him to the ground before officers arrived.

"I think he ran up against a Mama Bear," one police officer said.

Liesmann, on her way to pick up her daughter and with her 13-year-old son in the back seat, says the crash set off her maternal instinct.

“There’s no thinking, it’s just a reaction,” she said.

"You probably injure my son and you wreck my car, you’re gonna pay."

Even Liesmann’s boyfriend was stunned by her response.

“I knew she had it in her, but I’m surprised she got out,” Cook said.

Alexander is being charged with aggravated robbery and evading arrest, according to the Dallas Police Department. He is being held on $75,000 bond and has not yet entered a plea, police said.