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Search underway for man who violently attempted to carjack woman in Arlington parking lot

It happened at about 8 p.m. Thursday at the Walmart Neighborhood Market on Collins Street and Lamar Boulevard
Credit: WFAA

ARLINGTON, Texas — Witness cellphone video recorded the guttural screams of a woman who'd just been dragged out of her car by her hair in an attempted carjacking.

"Something flipped and I just went into protective, fight mode," the woman said. 

She asked WFAA not to share her identity because she fears for her safety. But she does want to share her story in hopes someone can help find the man who did this.

She said Thursday at about 7:45 p.m., she was parked at the Walmart Neighborhood Market at Collins Street and Lamar Boulevard in Arlington. She was in her car, getting ready to walk into the store, when a man walked up to her car and opened the driver's-side door.

"And he just said, 'Don’t scream and I wont hurt you,'" she told WFAA. "And I was like, 'I have a child at home. Please just let me go.'"

He didn't.

"The next thing I know I was grabbing onto the steering wheel and he was yanking my hair, then he pulled me to the ground," she said. 

He then pulled her to the ground by her hair.

That's when she started screaming for help. Witnesses ran to her aid as the suspect ran off. One witness took a video, which is giving police and the public a look at the suspect.

"Smile for the camera, you're going to jail, buddy," the witness can be heard saying on the video.

"While the quality's not the best because it's a cell phone, we believe someone who will see that stride and that run — they'll know who that guy is," said Lt. Chris Cook, with Arlington police.

The suspect is described as an African American man, skinny, between 5'10" and 6", in his late 20s to early 30s, with braided hair and black-rimmed glasses.

"We believe he's from the area," Cook said. "He made a run for those apartments there behind the Walmart."

Cook said he'd been casing the area for about 10 minutes before the crime occurred.

"That's a very heavily traveled area at 8 o'clock at night, you don't expect for stuff like this to happen," he said.

As for the victim, she's bruised and missing a chunk of her hair, but she's alive.

"I just went into mom mode," she said.

She just wants to see the suspect caught.

Arlington Police urge anyone with information on the crime or suspect to contact them. Tipsters will remain anonymous.

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