HOLLYWOOD, FLA. (WSVN) - A man and a young woman are opening up about the frightening moments when, they said, they were targeted by a carjacker in Hollywood during what police described as a chaotic chain of events that led to the suspect’s arrest.
Speaking with 7News on Thursday, Khila Darrisaw said there is definitely a silver lining to what happened to her just before 8 a.m. on Wednesday.
“I feel like him taking my car was the way to catch him,” she said.
The 20-year-old victim said she didn’t expect to get carjacked as she waited to order food in a McDonald’s drive-thru.
“When I looked over, he had just pulled the door. It was unlocked, so before I could even lock it or anything like that, he pulled it open and just jumped in the car,” she said
Hollywood Police said the man who got in the car was Edward Dawson.
Darrisaw recalled the suspect insisted that she take him somewhere else, but she refused and told him to get out.
“I had the car in drive still, and he tried to push my leg down to, like, drive off, I’m assuming,” she said. “And I didn’t, like, I pulled my leg back, and then I put the car in park.”
That made the carjacker angry, Darrisaw said.
“I took the key out of the ignition, and then he got upset, and he then he started tussling with me with the key, and he was pretty strong, and he, like, took it out of my hand,” she said. “He was like, ‘Just get out, just get out,’ and like started to, like, shove me out of the car.”
Darrisaw said she was borrowing her father’s car that morning. It ended up banged up after, she said, Dawson stole it from her.
Investigators said the suspect hit other cars about 18 minutes away. in another parking lot.
Darrisaw said she was sorry to learn she was not the only victim.
“I’m kind of glad he got my car so that they can get him off the street, but knowing that he had done that to an elderly man is – I was very shocked to hear that,” she said.
A 911 dispatcher reported a call regarding what, police said, was a carjacking that preceded Darrisaw’s.
“Male called yelling in reference to a red Ford F-150 someone was trying to steal, then the caller hung up,” said the dispatcher.
Authorities said Dawson tried to take a man’s car earlier in the same shopping plaza, as he was parked there getting his morning started.
That victim, Kurt Decker, spoke with 7News Thursday night.
“Suddenly, my door opened, and I looked up into a fist, and all of a sudden, this guy is wailing on me, and I didn’t know what was going on,” he said
But Decker wasn’t having it. He fought off Dawson — alone at first, then with help from a stranger.
“Pulled him back out and did the best I could, but at that point I knew – control the ignition, keep the car from leaving and see what I could do, and it went on for a good five minutes,” said Decker.
Decker kept his pickup, but he said he ended up with a bloody nose from the fistfight.
“He said a couple of times, ‘I need this truck,’ and I was like, ‘You picked the wrong one,'” he said.
After Dawson took off in the car that belongs to Darrisaw’s dad, detectives said, officers were able to track the vehicle down and take the suspect into custody.
Dawson refused to show up in court Thursday, but it doesn’t matter. He faces a number of serious charges, including carjacking, aggravated battery and burglary with battery. He’s being held without bond.
“The court does find probable cause,” said Broward Circuit Court Judge Corey B. Friedman.
Both victims hope others learn from what happened to them.
“I just think this is a learning lesson for everybody to be very aware of your surroundings,” said Darrisaw. “Don’t take any chances with your life, ’cause this could have went in a way different direction.”
“All this side of my face is fairly sore, but I have all my teeth, you know, no broken bones” said Decker. “He didn’t shoot me, he didn’t stab me. I’m blessed.”
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