ITASCA, Texas — A man has been arrested after trying to kidnap a mom and daughter in Itasca, crashing the car he stole from them and escaping from a Waco hospital.
Lt. William Fausnacht with the Itasca Police Department says Casey Phillips is being charged with at least five felonies including aggravated robbery, two counts of aggravated kidnapping, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and unlawful use of a motor vehicle. Fausnacht also believes Phillips could see a slew of misdemeanor charges later.
Luckily both women involved in the kidnapping are doing fine and are now trying to recover, but they wanted to share their version of the attack from Phillips.
"You'd never think that you'd be ordering your food and somebody's gonna come up with a knife trying to take your life," said 17-year-old Tariah Demmons, victim of the crime spree.
Demmons and her mom were out for a bite to eat at the Sonic in Itasca when suddenly they were attacked, she said.
"This dude came up to the window and was like 'get out,'" Demmons recalled. "He had a grin on his face though so it was hard to process."
Demmons says Phillips had a knife when he jumped in their car and tried to drive away.
Carlos Ortiz, 18, works at Sonic and also attends Itasca High School. He and others ran to help when they saw what was happening.
"I ran out the door and I started trying to fight him but he was already inside the driver's seat and while he was inside the driver's seat, he was trying to fight them off, trying to get them out of the car," Ortiz said.
Demmons, her mom and Phillips were in the car when Phillips started downward swinging a knife at her. She tells 6 News that in that moment, she knew she had to fight back.
"He almost stabbed me in my chest, but I grabbed the knife -- that's why I had this cut on my hand," she said.
Demmons and her mom were able to get out of the car before Phillips drove it out of the Sonic parking lot, she said. Both of them walked away with their lives but with some injuries.
Demmons says she is scratched up, missing skin in places and also dealing with a sprained ankle.
Fausnacht says Phillips took off in the Demmons' car and would later end up crashing and having to go to the hospital.
Itasca Police thought he was being taken to a Hillsboro hospital but later found out he had just walked out of the Waco hospital free.
"He was able to get to the hospital and walk out with complete impunity because of a miscommunication and that's frustrating for me, because this person is very violent," he said. "He just kidnapped two people."
The U.S. Marshals found Phillips Thursday morning in Hubbard.
On top of the attack at the Sonic in Itasca, Fausnacht says he broke into an 18-wheeler at a truck stop across from the Sonic which was all caught in a video obtained by 6 News. Click to watch here.
Now, the community and those involved are hoping to move forward and are sticking by one another.
"I would have done it for anybody, but when when I seen it was my friend -- I stepped in without no second thoughts," Ortiz said.
And now just a long recovery for the Demmons but they've already started.
"It's really long term, we're gonna be suffering traumatized to go to a drive-thru," said Demmons.
On Thursday, Phillips was taken to a hospital in Fort Worth to be further evaluated before being booked into jail according to Fausnacht.