A woman who had allegedly been kidnapped was saved after she displayed a hand-signal circulated on TikTok.
The woman, who has not been named by police, was visiting her brother when her ex Johnathon Smith, 31, arrived at the house and picked her up, Hickman County Sheriff’s Office have claimed.
During the journey they got "into a physical altercation", according to Lt Mike Doddo.
“The girlfriend then asked to be let out. He said, ‘No,’” Doddo said, the Tennessean reported.
“(Smith) then threatened to kill her by grabbing a screwdriver and telling her, if he couldn’t have her, nobody could have her.”
After driving recklessly for a short while, Smith allegedly stopped the car at the Twice Daily petrol station and they both went inside.
There the woman put her palm forward and tucked her thumb in, before closing her four fingers over the top and showing the hand to the cashier.
They repeated the gesture, prompting the woman to nod, Lt Doddo said, suggesting the hand signal had been learned on TikTok.
The staff member then called 911 and once Smith began checking out, began stalling and claiming that something was wrong with the till.
According to Lt Doddo, Smith then realised what was happening and took the woman back to the car and set off.
A police vehicle soon caught up with them, prompting a chase which hit speeds of 90mph, the sheriff's office have claimed.
After about 15 minutes of driving the fleeing vehicle crashed into a creek, prompting Smith to try and fail run on foot.
The woman was not hurt in the smash.
Johnathon Smith, 31, of Hickman County, has been charged with aggravated kidnapping and aggravated domestic assault in the incident.
It is not the first time a woman has received help after using the hand gesture.
In November a 61-year-old North Carolina man was arrested in Kentucky when a 16-year-old showed the hand signal to other motorists while in the backseat.
