HOUSTON – A woman originally thought to have been a victim of a carjacking in a fast-food restaurant's drive-through lane was in on the crime, investigators said.
Harris County sheriff's deputies said Juan Alberto Torres, 30, walked up to the driver's side of a Chevrolet Avalanche at a Wendy's on West Road near Interstate 45 about 6:30 p.m. on Sunday. Torres pulled the 21-year-old driver out of the car and knocked him to the ground, detectives said. The 21-year-old was dragged by the vehicle when he tried to grab Torres, officials said.
Emma Alvarez, 20, was also in the vehicle during the attack, detectives said. She stayed in the vehicle as Torres led deputies on a short chase that ended when he crashed nearby, investigators said.
Alvarez didn't get out of the vehicle when the driver was attacked because she had set the 21-year-old man up, deputies said.
"They were supposed to rob the victim of the vehicle, sell it and split the money," Deputy Thomas Gilliland said. "They didn't count on someone calling 911 and the chase that ensued."
After the crash, deputies sent a K-9 into the vehicle to get Torres out. He was bitten by the dog.
Torres was arrested and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, robbery with bodily injury, evading arrest and driving without a license. He's being held in the Harris County Jail without bond.
Alvarez, who was not hurt in the crash, was arrested and charged with robbery with bodily injury. She is being held in the Harris County Jail with bond set at $10,000.
The 21-year-old driver suffered a shoulder injury, scrapes and bruises when he was dragged.