PHOENIX — A man who is accused of stealing a car while two 10-year-old boys sat in the backseat is out of custody and is currently facing no charges but his victims worry the suspect is a danger to his community and himself.
“It happened so fast that I had no time to think,” said Wendy Grace, recounting that moment on August 12, when she watched a man jump into her car and try to drive off, with her kids inside.
“All I thought is that I was going to lose my kids and that there was a strange person in the car, so I just reacted.”
The boys were able to escape the car before the man drove off. Minutes later and about 15 miles away, witnesses say the same man pulled up to Carolina’s Mexican restaurant in Peoria.
Employees said he was acting erratically inside, so one of them followed the suspect to the stolen car and got in to try and stop him.
After a struggle, a restaurant worker says she was able to stop his car. So, the man took off on foot. The man was arrested at a nearby business.
“Totally was the scariest moment of my life,” Grace said.
That’s a moment Phoenix resident Anthony Babien-Soto thinks could have been prevented.
“Had he been properly detained or taken care of in terms of rehab, in terms of being incarcerated when he tried to kick the door in, which happened two weeks prior to the carjacking incident, those two 10-year-olds would not have been in danger, because it wouldn’t have escalated to that point.”
Babien-Soto provided 12 News Ring doorbell camera video of a man attempting to break into his home.
“He opens up the screen door, takes a step back almost like he’s prepping himself, he goes for the kick. I would be even scared for my dogs life because I don’t know what he’s thinking,” Babien-Soto explained.
He knows the man in the video as his neighbor, who is also the suspect police accused of carjacking Wendy Grace: 41-year-old Shawn Dillman. Dillman, who was arrested on multiple felony charges, is out of jail again less than a week later.
According to court records and Dillman’s family, he has a history of drug abuse. And his father wishes he could get more help.
“You’ve got somebody who’s going to break into anybody and anyone’s homes to get the money to support his habit he’s in right now and we’re just very concerned,” Shawn father Michael explained.
That’s a concern echoed by Dillman’s alleged victims.
“It’s not right, it’s not right that he’s out. He could go and do this again today and those kids might not be as lucky as my kids. So, he fell through the cracks big-time,” Grace said.
The County Attorney’s Office said they have not filed charges because Phoenix and Peoria police were still investigating.
“I would like to see the judicial system look at the big picture of this person and not just one of the crimes and get him off the streets, get him the help that he needs, get us the help that we need.”