I can’t sleep after I was attacked in my car, it could happen to you too, says Arabella Chi as she issues urgent warning
LOVE Island star Arabella Chi has revealed how she is suffering night-mares after her horror roadside attack in Spain.
In an exclusive chat, the 32-year-old model — who was dragged from her car and robbed after being singled out by a crime gang that targets Brits — said: “Reliving it all I feel physically sick.”
Speaking after arriving home yesterday, she added: “It was so scary and I’ve been having nightmares about being dragged out of bed, just like I was from the car.
“I was petrified when it happened, but now I know they’d been watching us and waiting to attack us, it is even more horrible to think about.”
Arabella and her dad Paul were returning to the UK from their home in Ibiza on Thursday when the attack happened.
The gang struck after watching them drive off the ferry from Ibiza to Barcelona.
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Arabella, who is dating Manchester City footballer Ruben Dias, 26, said: “Mopeds are all around you at traffic lights and both our back wheels were slashed.
“We think they’d got us at the first set of lights and we’d not noticed. It was clever of them.
“As I pulled off from the lights I could see the tyre pressure dropping really quickly on the car’s computer.
“We got out of the car and got our electric pump out when four men approached us.
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“I thought they were being friendly, as they were telling us where a garage was, but now I know they were scoping out the car.
‘Very intimidating’
“Even though I have blacked-out windows, they could have seen it was packed full of luggage and I think they wanted that.”
After pumping up the tyres, Arabella and her dad tried to drive off but stopped after the tyres deflated twice more.
She added: “The second time we got out and tried again a man on a moped pulled up and started shouting at me.
“He was very intimidating and threatening so my dad told me to get back in the car. He realised then the tyres had been slashed.”
The man went away, leaving Arabella and her dad stranded on a quiet road.
It was 9pm now and the pair decided to order an Uber to get to a petrol station to ask for help.
Arabella said: “We decided to lock me in the car and that my dad would go and get help from a garage where he could buy some emergency sealant.
“It felt like the safest thing to do at the time. Locked inside my car, I thought I would be all right.”
But shortly after Paul left in the Uber, Arabella said she heard the car unlock.
It is likely they had a gizmo that bypassed electronic locking. She was then dragged from the vehicle by one man as another opened the passenger door.
Arabella said: “Hearing the doors unlock makes me feel sick. I was terrified.
“I remember the lights flashing. This man was grabbing my arm and pulling me out.
"He was shouting at me and saying he was going to take me to a garage to help me. I started screaming, ‘Get off me, get off me’.
“As he was pulling me out I was trying to stay in the car and shut the door so I could lock it again but my hands were frozen.
At the same time the other door opened but I didn’t see it. I was making such a racket that after a few seconds he just let go and walked off really calmly.
“I locked the doors again, not that that would have made any difference, and I rang my dad and was screaming and crying.
“I was petrified. I thought they might be going to get more people then come back to get me.
"I knew they could un- lock the car and I was by myself. That is what I find so scary, I don’t know what they would have done if they’d come back.”
When Paul returned the pair realised that Arabella’s bag containing their passports and cash had been stolen.
She added: “The man who grabbed me was staring at the other man but I didn’t realise at the time.
“It was like he was saying to him, ‘I’ve got her, she’s distracted, get her bag’.
“My dog Astro was in the footwell of the passenger seat and I am so relieved they didn’t touch him.
“They could have taken him and demanded cash for his return. It’s these things I keep thinking about.”
Arabella and her dad, who had bought a specialist foam as a temporary tyre fix, loaded their luggage into the Uber to lessen the weight in their car before driving back to Barcelona.
Arabella was paranoid they could be targeted again.
She said: “I thought, ‘What if the Uber driver is in on it?’. He said to load up his car with the luggage and I thought, ‘What if he just drives off?’.
‘Constantly on edge’
“I just wanted to get out of there so Dad got in with him and I drove slowly behind them. I didn’t care about ruining my alloys.
“About an hour later a woman called saying she’d found my handbag and had seen my number in Astro’s dog passport.
“I was worried she was in on it too. I became so paranoid and stopped trusting everyone.”
Arabella and Paul went straight to the police, who told them this had happened to other British drivers, who were singled out for their passports.
They spent a night in a hotel before going to the British consulate the next day to get emergency passports.
Arabella said: “The police were amazing and so was the consulate.
“But I just wanted to get out of Barcelona. I was constantly on edge, I kept thinking the gang might still be watching us.”
Arabella added: “People have asked me why my dad left me in the car but in a way I am pleased it was me and not him.
“My dad would have been vulnerable because men tend to fight back more. They could have attacked my dad and knocked his lights out.
"They could have done a lot more damage. I know they could have beaten both of us but I think men are more likely to get hurt.
“I’ve had nightmares and trouble sleeping. I don’t think I’ll ever do that drive again and if I do, I’ll be taking a different route.”
After arriving home Arabella says she has been contacted by a number of people who have been through the same thing.
Advanced technology in cars means most are now vulnerable to being unlocked remotely, something Arabella wants people to be aware of.
She said: “We were the perfect targets. A dad and his daughter with a car full of luggage.
"They must have thought they’d hit the jackpot. The way they did it is sophisticated.
“They watch you and then they pounce. I want to tell people to be aware at traffic lights, especially when you’re coming off the ferry. They know you’ll have your passports and that is what they want.
“I’d hate to think of this happening to a family with children in the car because it is so scary.
“If this ever happens to you, do not stop like we did. We had no idea we were targets until it was too late.
“I was always so trusting of people — but not any more.
“I thought those people were trying to help us but they were criminals who’d been watching us and waiting for us.
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“It makes me sick thinking about what happened and how much worse it could have been.
“I never want anyone to have to go through what we have.”
