HUMBLE, Texas – A Humble man was heartbroken when his 1998 Ford Mustang was stolen from his apartment complex earlier this month. In the market for a new car, he turned to Craigslist and made a startling discovery.
"I looked, was scrolling down the second page and I see my car...or what looks like my car," said Dimitri McDaniel.
McDaniel came across an ad, for $550 it appeared someone was trying to sell his stolen car. McDaniel said he knew it was his car because he has different color rims, a sticker on the back and an unmistakable scratch on the side. He called the Harris County Precinct 4 Constable deputies and reported his findings.
Within two hours, McDaniel said, the police were on it.
"After we were notified by the owner, we texted the suspect as a potential buyer for the vehicle," said Chief J.C. Sumner with the Pct. 4 Constable's Office.
Sumner told KPRC2 that deputies arranged a day and time to see the car. They showed up at the suspect's Spring home and saw it parked in the garage but their suspect, Christopher Allen, wouldn't answer the door when he saw the uniformed officers.
Deputies obtained a search warrant and went in after him.
"Mr. Allen refused to open the door, deputies made entry into the house with their K-9," Sumner said. "He immediately ran into a bedroom in an attempt to elude officers and crawl through a window in a bedroom that was occupied by a 6-year-old little girl. We believe he did that for the sole purpose of trying to elude the K-9 from him toward the little girl."
Investigators said the little girl is Allen's girlfriend's daughter and they all lived in the home together.
Deputies arrested him and charged him with the theft of the Mustang and also endangering a child. He is now being held in the Harris County jail on $10,000 bond.
McDaniel got his car back after Allen's arrest.
"I'm just glad," he told KPRC2. "I'm just glad I got my car back."