A man who visited a shopping strip in Dallas off Inwood Road, near the affluent Park Cities community, is likely thanking his lucky North Texas stars after a good Samaritan prevented an apparent carjacking — or possibly worse — last Friday evening.
The man had just walked out of the Odelay Tex-Mex restaurant at the Pavilion on Lovers Lane at around 6:30 p.m. and was approaching his car in the parking lot when witnesses heard shots ring out.
“Six, eight, maybe 10 [gunshots]. It was not one or two. It was a number of them,” said eyewitness Thomas Gleason, who was inside the restaurant. “Immediately, everyone just started to scatter like they would in a gunshot situation.”
Some diners fled to the kitchen, while others dove under tables, Gleason told NBC 5 DFW.
Outside the restaurant, three men were attempting to hijack the man’s Maserati, according to Dallas police. However, their efforts were thwarted.
“[An] uninvolved party shot one of the suspects while they attempted to carjack the victim. The victim was threatened and shot at with a short-barreled rifle,” police told Fox 4 KDFW.
The injured suspect was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was listed in stable condition, and the remaining two suspects fled the scene on foot. Police have not identified the person who shot the suspect or the names of the suspects.
No one else was injured in the shooting, but a vehicle in the parking lot had multiple bullet holes.
As police worked the crime scene, patrons at the shopping center were denied access to their vehicles. Police returned the following day to collect surveillance video and interview more witnesses. The investigation and the search for the two remaining suspects are ongoing.
Jonathan Schimmels, who said he was at Odelay with his family at the time of the shooting, posted his recollection of the incident on Twitter.
“Carjackers were trying to steal a Maserati. They were masked and heavily armed. A good Samaritan in the car next to the Maserati fired at the carjacker, injuring one of them (blood at the scene),” Schimmels tweeted.
As previously reported in The Dallas Express, motor vehicle thefts, theft of property from motor vehicles, and stolen auto parts and accessories have increased dramatically over the past year in Dallas. More than 13,000 motor vehicle thefts were reported in 2022.
During the first five days of this year, 227 of the 919 crimes reported in Dallas thus far — nearly 25% — have involved motor vehicle theft or automotive burglaries, which the city council has yet to meaningfully address.
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