Confronted by a knife-wielding robber who sprang out of the back seat of her minivan on Friday, a Texas mother did what she had to in order to protect her two young sons, crashing into a telephone pole, taking the man’s weapon out of his hands and punching him in the face before throwing him out of the still-moving vehicle and finally running him over.

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That last part, Baytown, Texas resident Dorothy Baker-Flugence swears was unintentional. “I was just trying to stop him so he didn’t hurt anybody else,” she told ABC News.

Baker-Flugence and her two sons, 2 and 5 years old, were leaving a CVS store on Friday night when 54-year-old Ismael Martinez suddenly sprang out of their minivan’s back seat and began threatening the boys, saying he would harm them if Baker-Flugence did not give him $200.

Police told Houston-based KTRK-TV that as they spoke, she called 911 on her mobile phone without him noticing. Then she sped up, swerving off the road and aiming directly for a telephone pole.

Her strategy worked and Martinez suddenly found himself in the front of the vehicle. A struggle ensued and Baker-Flugence sustained several minor injuries before prying the knife out of his hands.

The tables turned, she began thrashing him with her fists. Police said that’s when he jumped from the car and began to flee, but Baker-Flugence wasn’t having it.

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She told NBC affiliate KHOU-TV, “He kind of zagged, and I turned, intending to clip him in the side or something to get him to stop, but I actually… ended up running completely over him.”

Martinez was rushed to a nearby hospital and remains in stable condition, KHOU-TV added. Police reportedly said he is a convicted criminal who served time for a rape conviction in 1976.

“I told him, he messed with the wrong… witch,” she told ABC’s “Good Morning America,” briefly hesitating before uttering the word “witch.” She did not elaborate.

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This video is from ABC News, published Sunday, June 16, 2013.

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Updated for clarity and to fix a typo.