DALLAS — Multiple cars crashed. Good Samaritans were run over by their own vehicles. And a bystander, who tried to fight the suspect with a pipe, was stabbed in the stomach, police said.
This was the chaotic scene - described by police in an arrest warrant affidavit - that unfolded during Tuesday morning rush hour along I-635 in Northeast Dallas.
Three victims were hospitalized, including one in critical condition, and all westbound lanes of the highway at Forest Lane were shut down for over four hours, according to officials.
Police said one suspect was responsible for the incident. Angel Zamora-Moreno, 26, was arrested after a group of bystanders were able to hold him down as police responded, according to police documents.
Zamora-Moreno faces seven counts of aggravated assault, two counts of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and one count of criminal mischief, police said.
The incident involved multiple victims and witnesses who had stopped to either help or were stuck in traffic or were involved in the initial crash, according to police documents. Ultimately, one of those witnesses and a group of bystanders were able to take down Moreno and bring the situation to an end, police said.
An arrest warrant affidavit obtained by WFAA outlined how the chaotic situation unfolded.
Police said witnesses reported that Zamora-Moreno around 7 a.m. was driving a gold Toyota Camry west on I-635 when he sideswiped multiple vehicles before crashing into an 18-wheeler.
A Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) worker saw the crash and stopped to help, while one of the drivers involved in the crash got out to check the damage, police said.
According to the affidavit, a witness reported that Zamora-Moreno got out of his vehicle, went to his trunk and grabbed an eight-inch fixed-blade knife. He then ran toward one of the drivers, a woman, but she was able to get back inside her vehicle and lock the doors.
Zamora-Moreno went to another vehicle stopped on the highway and began jumping on the hood and windshield, damaging the glass, the affidavit said. The car's driver drove away and Moreno fell off.
Then, another man got out of his vehicle with a metal pipe and approached Zamora-Moreno, according to the affidavit. Zamora-Moreno stabbed the man in the stomach, torso and ear, and the man hit Zamora-Moreno in the head with the pipe, the affidavit said.
A pickup truck driver saw the fight and picked up the stabbing victim to take him to a hospital. While this was happening, Zamora-Moreno commandeered the TxDOT employee's truck and rammed the back of the pickup truck that was taking the stab victim to the hospital, the affidavit said.
The pickup truck driver managed to get away and take the stabbed victim to Medical City Hospital.
But the incident wasn't over, according to the affidavit.
Zamora-Moreno, still driving the TxDOT truck, turned around on the highway and struck the TxDOT worker in the leg and then rammed another vehicle that was involved in the initial crash, the affidavit said.
A medical worker saw this happen and exited her car to help. When she did, Zamora-Moreno got into her car and started chasing her around the freeway, the affidavit said. Zamora-Moreno ultimately ran the woman over and dragged her across two lanes of traffic, according to the affidavit.
A witness then ran over to Zamora-Moreno, who was still in the victim's car, and reached out to press the ignition button and stopped the car, the affidavit said. Zamora-Moreno got out of the car and ran about 100 feet until a group of bystanders caught him and held him down as police responded, according to the affidavit.
Dallas Fire-Rescue crews took three victims to the hospital. The driver stabbed by the suspect was in critical condition, police said. The other two victims were listed as stable, but more information about their conditions was not available.
Several cars appeared to be damaged in the crash, causing heavy traffic backups along 635, according to footage from the scene.
Police identified Zamora-Moreno from his California identification card on him at the time of the arrest. The affidavit said police found an address for Zamora-Moreno in Plano but his uncle told officers he had not lived there in about a month.