Amy Little escaped an armed robbery attempt physically unharmed, but the aftershock lasted years.

After leaving a Carpentersville movie theater in 2004, shortly after the Elgin woman graduated from Larkin High School, Little and a friend were approached by two men who tried to force the pair into a car at gunpoint. Little’s companion was struck in the head when he refused. Luckily, a passing squad car scared off the men.

But the attempt left Little, now 23, with extreme anxiety. Routine encounters with men who had similar physical attributes as those would-be robbers gave her panic attacks, and irrational fear paralyzed her.