Carjacking Victim Speaks Out, Calls Police Response To His Crime 'Heartless'
Dallas police are investigating whether a suspected armed carjacker is responsible for other crimes in a North Dallas neighborhood this month.
Police arrested 21-year-old Zamondre Brown, but his alleged accomplice is still on the run.
There have been more than a half-dozen armed robberies and carjackings near Interstate 635 and Skillman Road in recent weeks.
Police said Brown and his accomplice pulled guns on a man at the Waterchase Apartments in the 12300 block of Plano Road and forced him to empty his pockets at gunpoint. They, then stole his red Toyota vehicle, police said.
Officers later spotted the stolen car and engaged in a brief pursuit, but the car crashed at 12100 Audelia Road.
Brown faces multiple charges, including aggravated robbery, but police still want to know if he is responsible for other robberies in that area this year.
Chase McDonough is a victim of a recent carjacking at the Stone Ranch Apartments near I-635 and Skillman.
At about 3 p.m. on Jan. 3, McDonough and his wife, Trisha, were visiting friends at the apartments. Trisha McDonough is a professional photographer, and the couple was setting up for a baby photo shoot.
When Chase McDonough ran back downstairs to the his car, a red Mazda SUV, to get more photography supplies, he was met by two strangers, who pulled a gun on him.
"They got within eight inches of my face, pulled a gun to my head then quickly moved it to my stomach. They said, 'Empty out your pockets,'" Chase McDonough said. "They told me, 'Get in the car, you're gonna get in the car with us.'"
Chase McDonough thinks his SUV's unusually-shaped key may have saved his life.
"They were messing around with that switchblade key and couldn't really figure out how to operate it," he said. "When they still couldn't figure out how to unlock it, I ran. I ran right up to the apartment and called 911 immediately."
But then, Chase McDonough and his wife waited an hour, they said, for police to show up.
Officers and a robbery detective took a report and gave them business cards, but Chase McDonough said his phone calls were only met with terse email replies.
When he finally got detectives on the phone, he said they were rude and demeaning.
"Then they (police) tell you, 'Do you know how big Dallas is? Do you know how much we have going on?'" he said. "If someone is a victim of any crime, you should have heart and compassion for that person. We're not just a number. We are your city."
As the days rolled on, Trisha McDonough started tracking crime statistics and writing down all the other armed robberies at the same apartment complex.
The list kept growing. There were no arrests in her husband's armed robbery and carjacking, no named suspects and no recovered vehicle.
"I'm pretty sure that as bold as they are, to be doing this in broad daylight, it's not the first time they've done this. And I really honestly feel like if the detective had taken the steps he needed to take, to care more about it, somebody else might not have been victimized the same way we were," she said.
Detectives notified the McDonoughs that their stolen red Mazda SUV was recovered 13 days later on Jan. 16, although the car wasn't returned until Jan. 21.
The delay, Trisha McDonough said, was because officers told her on the phone that the SUV may have been connected to two other January armed robberies in North Dallas.
Records show that while the McDonoughs' car was missing, there was an armed robbery, a burglary and an auto theft all originating from the Stone Ranch Apartments.
"I truly feel that if the detectives just put just a little more effort into this, they could have saved a lot of other people from having to deal with this, too," Trisha McDonough said.
However, a Dallas police spokesman on Tuesday afternoon said that there's no evidence the stolen Mazda was used to facilitate any other crimes.
The McDonoughs' SUV has been in the body shop for the last week. Mechanics at the Ewing Body Shop in Plano said it could take another week before the car is returned.
Chase McDonough said the crooks put hundreds of miles on the car and caused thousands of dollars in damage.
Officer Carlos Almeida also disputed the accusation that robbery detectives were aloof and unprofessional towards the couple.
"I'm told that detectives have spoken to Mr. McDonough on multiple occasions related to his offense," Almeida said. "Detectives assigned to his case have previously reached out to the apartment complex to try and retrieve any video that may exist."
But Trisha McDonough said she's been trying to get detectives to return to the apartment complex and get the video in person.
"I'm not sure why they insist they need to go wait on a hard copy. Had you gone and viewed the tape, you guys could have probably seen the suspects and then saved at least four or five other families from the heartache that we've had to deal with," she said.
Police said they haven't identified any suspects in that carjacking and it's still an open investigation.
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