Cancer survivor confronted by knife-wielding carjacker

Suspect didn't know how to drive stick shift

SAN ANTONIO – Cancer survivor Alan Robles said he doesn’t scare easily after what he endured two years ago, but when he was confronted by a knife-wielding carjacker allegedly high on drugs, “I honestly thought it was going to be my last day,” he said.

Robles said he was filling up his prized Ford Mustang at a convenience store about 1:30 a.m. Friday, when a man approached him saying he needed to see his girlfriend.

“Sure, that’s fine,” Robles said he told the man, especially after the suspect said, “I don’t want to hurt you,” and then showed him an open switchblade.

Robles said he tried stalling for time, but no one else pulled up to the gas pumps. 

He said the man grew more impatient telling him, “I have a gun too, and I don’t want to kill you. You look like a good man.”

Robles said at that point, he told the suspect to take his car.

But when the suspect got in, Robles said the man realized it had a manual transmission with a stick shift.

He said that’s when it got really strange.

“He’s trying to rob me. At the same time, he wants me to show him how to drive my own car,” Robles said.

Robles said he tried to calmly explain how to use the clutch and switch gears, while still asking the man not to hurt him.

He said the man’s eyes were glazed over, and he was sweating profusely. San Antonio Police later said that he was high on narcotics.

Finally the suspect ordered Robles to drive, while allegedly ransacking his vehicle and taking several items. 
“At that point, I left it in gear and told him to hit the gas,” Robles said. “As soon as I heard  him hit the gas, I just ran.”

At a nearby body shop where he called 911, Robles said he could hear the man driving back and forth, the car still stuck in first gear.

“That’s when he crashed into that house,” Robles said.

An officer soon spotted his stolen car in the driveway of a home in 200 block of Micklejohn, where police heard screaming. The suspect allegedly ran off, leading the officer in a brief foot chase. Police said a Taser was used to subdue and arrest the suspect.

They said he was looking for his common law wife and physically attacked the homeowner. 

Robles said the suspect broke a window first, cutting himself, bleeding all over what he’d stolen from the car.

He said he thinks the entire ordeal from Culebra to Bandera roads took about 10 minutes. The former aircraft mechanic said, “It felt like an eternity. It just felt like a very long time.”


About the Author:

Jessie Degollado has been with KSAT since 1984. She is a general assignments reporter who covers a wide variety of stories. Raised in Laredo and as an anchor/reporter at KRGV in the Rio Grande Valley, Jessie is especially familiar with border and immigration issues. In 2007, Jessie also was inducted into the San Antonio Women's Hall of Fame.