Vet refused to back down when man stole his wallet, truck
Surveillance video shows 69-year-old Navy veteran Allan Huddleston's struggle with the suspect.
A Vietnam War veteran proved Monday he had a lot of fight left in him, refusing to back down when a man stole his wallet and truck from a Texas gas station.
The Richland Hills Police Department said in a news release the incident happened around 6:30 a.m. when Allan Huddleston stopped at a Shell Gas Station along a freeway about 7 miles from downtown Fort Worth. A man first approached Huddleston asking for a cigarette, then pushed past him and got into the driver's seat of his truck.
"He's in my truck trying to drive off,” Huddleston told FOX4 News. “So I reach in there, and I grab him around his neck in a head hold, I guess you'd call it. I drag him out of the truck."
The two then fell to the ground in a brawl captured on surveillance video. The suspect was eventually able to steal Huddleston's wallet and keys during the struggle, and then got into the vehicle to attempt to drive away.
Allan Huddleston describes how he tried to fight off a carjacker at a Texas gas station. (FOX4 News)
"No doubt in my mind he's done this before,” Huddleston said. “This isn't his first rodeo."
"He put up a fight. And I would expect nothing less from our veterans out there."
Huddleston, who served with the Navy during the Vietnam War, still wasn't about to throw in the towel. The 69-year-old held onto his truck door while the suspect drove away, and was dragged about 15 to 20 feet before he fell to the ground and had his legs run over by the vehicle, police said.
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Huddleston was treated at a hospital for non-life threatening injuries, including a broken leg. His truck was later found abandoned in Fort Worth "a few hours later."
Richland Hills Police Captain Sheena McEachran told FOX4 News it was also fortunate the suspect wasn't armed.
"He put up a fight,” McEachran said. “And I would expect nothing less from our veterans out there."
The suspect in the carjacking of a Vietnam War veteran as seen in surveillance video from a Texas gas station released by police. (RHPD)
Police said based on reviewing surveillance video, the suspect approached several other people at the gas station, asking for cigarettes and money.
Huddleston said he had a message for the thief.
"By golly, partner. There's no doubt in my mind you've done this before,” he told FOX4. “And I guarantee it'll catch up to you if you haven't been caught yet. But you will be caught. You're a sorry individual."
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