When two women assaulted her and robbed her of her purse as she was sitting on a bench along Ala Wai Boulevard Sunday evening, Jennifer Killinger not only gave chase, she hopped on the hood of their getaway Mercedes-Benz and held onto it for more than five blocks.

"I just moved into a new place, and all I could think about was that I needed the money to pay my bills," said Killinger, a 28-year-old bartender who stands 5 feet 4 and weighs 100 pounds. "I had just gotten off of work, and everything I owned was in there. I don’t know what I was thinking. I just wanted to get my stuff back. I just felt so violated."

The two women and a man who robbed Killinger, all in their 20s, eventually managed to get away from her, taking with them her purse with $200 cash and about $500 in valuables. Killinger escaped serious injury and went to the hospital with only bruises and cuts.

Killinger described one woman as 5 feet 8 inches tall, about 170 pounds, with long dark hair. The second woman was 5 feet 6 inches tall, between 130 and 150 pounds, with curly dark hair and piercings on both her cheeks, Killinger said. The man, who was driving the car, was described as about 5 feet 9 inches tall, 160 pounds, with a medium build.

They were in a newer-model black Mercedes-Benz.

The public is asked to call CrimeStoppers at 955-8300 with any tips.

Killinger said she had just finished work and had walked about a mile to where her car was parked near Ala Wai Boulevard and Paoakalani Avenue at about 8:20 p.m. when she realized she’d forgotten her keys back at the bar.

Too tired to walk back to the bar, she called a friend to pick her up and waited while sitting on a bench, she said.

The women then approached her. "The one girl started hitting me in the head and boxing up my ears, and the other girl smashed my purse out of my right arm and took off running," Killinger said.

She said she ran after them along Ala Wai and grabbed the purse back momentarily. But they snatched back the purse, assaulted her again and ran to the waiting car.

"They jumped in the car, and I was in the front of the car, and they started to go (on Ala Wai) and I just reacted by jumping on the car," Killinger said. She clung to the hood, "and they were swerving and driving like madmen, trying to knock me off."

At one point the car stopped, and the women got out and pulled her off the car. When they got back into the car, Killinger said, she got back on the hood. The car went the wrong way on Kaiulani Avenue and into a driveway, where the women again tried to get her off the car, she said.

When she kicked one of the women in the face, the driver got out, pulled her off the hood, body-slammed her and kicked her in the back of the neck before speeding away, she said.

Police are investigating the case as an attempted murder and robbery.