Stafford police arrested a man after a series of alleged carjacking attempts at Highway 90 and Promenade that left a 76-year-old resident on the ground.
The 40-year-old suspect was taken into custody at a McDonald's near the intersection and remained in the Fort Bend County Jail as of Tuesday, Sept. 15, ABC13 reported. Formal charges connected to the Stafford incidents had not been publicly confirmed as of Wednesday, Sept. 16.
Houston police said the suspect stole a white BMW from a bank parking lot in southwest Houston minutes before the Stafford incidents. The car's owner told ABC13 he had gone inside the bank when the suspect entered his vehicle and ordered two passengers out.
The BMW then slammed into vehicles stopped in a turn lane at Highway 90 and Promenade.
Myatt Hancock, 76, a Fort Bend County resident, told ABC13 he was in that turn lane. He got out to check for damage, and the suspect approached him demanding his car.
"He said, 'I'm taking your car.' And I said, 'No, you're not,'" Hancock told ABC13.
Hancock said he was thrown to the ground during a struggle. The suspect got into Hancock's car but could not start it and gave up. While the suspect was inside, Hancock's 911 call transferred to the car's Bluetooth, connecting the dispatcher with the suspect rather than Hancock.
The suspect then walked to a nearby Frost Bank, where he allegedly climbed into the driver's seat of a woman's running vehicle. Her 10-year-old son was inside. The boy escaped and alerted his mother, who pulled the suspect from the car, according to ABC13.
Police said the suspect next went to the McDonald's drive-thru, failed to get into a customer's pickup truck and climbed into the truck bed. Officers arrested him there.
Records show the suspect has 13 previous convictions in Texas, most in Wharton County. In June, he pleaded guilty to a theft charge in Fort Bend County and to attempting to tamper with evidence in Harris County.
No response from the suspect or an attorney representing him appeared in available reports. The Fort Bend County District Attorney's Office had not publicly announced charges related to the Stafford incidents as of Sept. 16.
