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Parked at a crowded business, College Station resident Shelly Gutierrez was cleaning out the back seat of her Suburban when she turned to find a stranger standing between her and the door.
"It scared me -- he was right there in my face," she said Tuesday afternoon, a day after a man stole her 1-year-old vehicle and crashed it in Hearne.
She asked the man, whom she described as "clean cut," what he was doing and he responded that he was checking out her car.
"I kind of bumped up against him as I got out of the car. It seemed like a few minutes, but I know it was a few seconds when he looked at me, and in a calm voice said, 'I'm going to take your car, and if you say a word I'm going to kill you.'"
The mother of three took a step back and put her hands up, "like, fine, take it," and without saying a word moved aside as he climbed in and drove away.
"As soon as he drove off, I started screaming that he stole my car," said Gutierrez, who was at Shammy Express Car Wash on Texas Avenue just after lunch.
A bystander -- who asked not to be identified for this story because he was concerned about retribution -- said he jumped in his car and took off after the man as Gutierrez dialed 911.
"I thought her kids were in the car," he said. "I just reacted and followed him north to Hearne while talking to police."
Hearne Detective Steve Grace said he was in an unmarked car on Texas 6 when Gutierrez's black vehicle passed him going 100 mph.
"The other man was still chasing him," Grace said, adding that Hearne Officer Michelle Taylor was in a patrol car on the other side of town and ready for what was headed her way.
"I'm not sure what happened, if seeing the officer spooked him or what, but he crashed into a Nissan Maxima, jumped out and ran about 100 yards," Grace said, crediting Taylor and an off-duty Navasota officer who pulled over to help.
"They got him on the ground and in custody real quick," the detective said.
Donald Nelson, a 19-year-old who is listed as homeless in court documents, was driving the stolen car, police said. He had a warrant out for his arrest for a prior theft charge.
The three people in the car he struck were taken to St. Joseph Regional Health Center after all the airbags deployed. Their conditions were not known late Tuesday.
Back in College Station, Gutierrez said, police responded within minutes and were interviewing her when the bystander called the car wash 20 minutes later to report the man was captured and her car was destroyed.
"He had my wallet in his pants," she said of Nelson. "[The bystander] really is my hero. He didn't have to follow the guy -- that was risky. It was so incredibly nice of him."
College Station officers drove her home and within hours returned with her belongings.
Never before a victim of a crime, Gutierrez said she considers herself fortunate: Her 2-year-old typically would have been with her as she ran her afternoon errands but was with a baby sitter down the street eating lunch.
"That's really all I could think about -- what if my kids were in the car?" she asked. "I would have had to fight him and there's no telling what would have happened. I don't know if he had a weapon. I would not have let him go with my kids in the car. No way.
"I'm just so blessed that they weren't in there and I didn't have to confront that situation."
Once safe at home digesting the day's events, Gutierrez talked to friends and family members about the ordeal.
"Most everyone would say, 'You're lying. You're not serious. You didn't get carjacked in College Station. No way,'" she recalled.
College Station police Lt. Rodney Sigler said Gutierrez did the right thing in letting the man take her vehicle.
"Generally, if people want your property -- give it to them if it'll keep you from getting hurt," he said. "Now, the guy who chased the thief? Doing that is not something I'd recommend. It's a decision each person would have to make in each situation. This guy was caught ... so it all ended well, fortunately."
Nelson was charged with robbery, a second-degree felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a fine of $10,000. Bail was set at $15,000.
While grateful for the outcome, Gutierrez said, she's left wondering what she could have done differently.
"You have to watch your back," she said. "Be careful at all times. This happened at 1 p.m. in a busy parking lot. A guy came out of nowhere and was fearless when he committed this crime.
"I just really have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving," she said.
The below map shows police calls reported by the College Station Police Department each day from 6 a.m. to 6 a.m. (indicated by blue markers), police calls reported by the Bryan Police Department daily from 12 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. (indicated by yellow markers), as well as incidents reported by The Eagle in Bryan, College Station and surrounding areas (indicated by red markers). Click on individual incidents or markers for details.
Editor's Note: The Eagle has produced this map based on information provided by the College Station and Bryan Police Departments. The map does not include all calls for service and the information is preliminary. Data provided by the police department may not accurately reflect the nature of the calls, and the status of reported incidents may change after further investigation. Locations are approximate.
