Suspect steals SUV with twin boys inside

DALLAS - Two children are safe after the SUV they were in was stolen from a Dallas gas station.

Cashiers at the Fox gas station on Harry Hines Boulevard near Northwest Highway said the grandmother of 7-year-old twin boys went inside the store around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday to get some tacos with a co-worker.

Maria Villa Fuerte says she didn’t want to wake the boys because they were sleeping. She also left the SUV running and unlocked. Police said a man took advantage of that mistake and took off in the SUV.

“I called the cops. They came in like two or three minutes and they started calling in all the choppers. I started seeing cars going back and forth. Man, it was crazy,” said Fidel Magana, a store cashier.

Fuerte’s co-worker actually saw it happen. He jumped into his own vehicle and chased the suspect into Downtown Dallas.

“The boy working with me, and I say, ‘He taking the car! Go follow please!” said Fuerte. “And I call the police right now.”

The suspect sideswiped Fuerte’s co-worker on Interstate 30 and then crashed near Hampton Road. The car flipped and landed right-side up in the grass. The suspect took off on foot and got away.

The children were in car seats and not seriously injured. They were taken to Children’s Medical Center as a precaution.

“I didn’t wake up,” said 7-year-old Kai.

“I thought it was grandma,” said 7-year-old Lee.

“I really happy. Just say thank you for everybody,” said Fuerte. “Polices help me too much and the hospital. This a very good night, everything. I say thank you very much.”

Cashiers at the gas station said Fuerte is a regular customer. Fuerte has custody of her grandsons after their mother was killed in an accident three years ago. She takes them with her on her overnight work shift because she has nobody to watch them.

The suspect, who faces charges for kidnapping and aggravated assault with a motor vehicle, remains at large. Police described him as a black man who is about 6 feet tall and 200 pounds. He has a shaved head and was wearing blue and black pants and a black shirt.