The Crime: Aggravated robbery
The Victim: Ian McLaughlin
Location: 7000 block of Pasadena
Date: Sunday, May 4
Time: 9:57 p.m.
Not paying attention to his immediate surroundings could have cost 18-year old Ian McLaughlin his life.
Thankfully, all it cost him was his cell phone and wallet.
McLaughlin was on his cell phone the whole time he was filling up his car with gas. He was on his cell phone all the while he was driving the short distance home, and even as he parked in front of his house. His mother, Jennifer McLaughlin, says that’s when the trouble started.
“He always parks in the street, and the two criminals blocked him in their car,” Jennifer McLaughlin says. “One guy jumped out of the passenger side and went to the driver’s side of Ian’s car and tapped on the glass with a gun.”
“They started to yell at me to give them my money,” Ian McLaughlin says. “The driver got out but never approached me, but was yelling at me to do what his friend said. I was shocked. I was still on the phone with my friend so they heard the whole thing.
“I opened the door, and with his free hand, the thief grabbed my wallet,” McLaughlin continues. “I was still in shock. I was saying, ‘Don’t hurt me.’ He walked back to his car and turned around and demanded my phone. I then opened the door and handed him the phone with my friend still on the line. The man took the phone, and closed it and ended the call.”
The two criminals got back in the car and slowly drove away. They turned into a driveway and turned back around. Once they drove past, McLaughlin dropped down in his car. He says he was afraid if he got a good look at them, they might come back and shoot him.
Dallas Police Sr. Cpl Eddie Crawford says the young victim was targeted because he wasn’t paying attention.
“The criminals saw an opportunity when they saw a young kid busy on his cell phone,” Crawford says.
“If you find yourself being followed, don’t go home. Turn around and go back to where you were shopping, or drive to a well-populated area,” Crawford says. “Guys with guns don’t want their faces seen. They don’t want to be caught.”
The loss to McLaughlin was his driver’s license, $20 in cash, and his $300 Razr cell phone.
