An accused Texas car thief reportedly said he was driving 260 mph when he lost control of a vehicle he stole because he needed a ride to work — resulting in a crash that killed a woman sitting in the backseat.
Dallas Police charged 26-year-old Darion Thomas with murder and theft following the weekend crash.
“The preliminary investigation determined the suspect stole the vehicle the victim was a passenger in,” police said. “The suspect sped away with the victim inside, lost control of the vehicle and hit a pole.”
The Austin American-Statesman said Karen Mariela Cardona was in the backseat of a 2018 Honda Accord stolen from outside a Dallas gas station around 1 a.m. Sunday. Rescue workers found the victim lying in a street at the site of the crash and were unable to save her.
Thomas reportedly waited for two people inside the Honda to exit the vehicle, then jumped into the driver’s seat not knowing Cardona was seated behind him. As Cardona started to yell, Thomas accelerated to speeds he said topped an unlikely 250 mph, according to court records obtained by NBC5. Multiple automotive publications list the 2018 Honda Accord’s top speed around 120 mph.
Witnesses said the impact of the crash ejected Cardona and Thomas from the vehicle. The suspect, who suffered a leg injury in the crash, reportedly asked for a gun so he could take his own life after the collision. He claimed to have commandeered the vehicle so he could get to his job. Where Thomas worked is unclear.
NBC5 confirmed the victim was a mother of two from Honduras who’d been in Texas for about a year.
Dallas County Jail records show Thomas is being held on $1 million bond.
