A 74-year-old Odessa man was attacked Saturday morning while trying to stop two suspected burglars from fleeing the scene, according to Odessa Police.
Dispatchers received a 911 call around 10 a.m. Saturday from the 300 block of Pittsburgh about a fight that was underway in the alley. While enroute, dispatchers told responding officers one of the men was waving a knife around.
When officers arrived, a woman who owns a trailer on Pittsburgh told them she saw a car with a pair of bolt cutters inside parked in the alley behind their home and a man later identified as Matthew Hawkins coming out of her back gate. She said she immediately told her husband she thought they were being burglarized, the report stated.
The woman’s husband said when he saw Hawkins in the alley, he told him the police were on their way and he stood in front of the car’s driver’s side door to prevent him from leaving, the report stated.
During the ensuing struggle, the man said a man later identified as Ike Brodnex walked up with a knife, shook at him and told him to leave, the report stated.
When both men tried to get into the car, the man said he tore Hawkins’ shirt off and Hawkins dug his nails into his arms while pushing him away, according to the report.
The man said he smashed the car’s windshield with a rock as they were leaving the scene as police were arriving.
According to the report, officers found a camera, cell phone and two batteries next to where the men’s car was parked.
An officer found the suspect vehicle a few blocks away from the scene at a convenience store. According to the report, a shirtless Hawkins told officers he’d been Dumpster diving when someone hit him.
Hawkins was arrested on suspicion of the first-degree felony charge of aggravated robbery, driving while license is invalid and possession of drug paraphernalia.
He remained in the Ector County jail Tuesday on surety bonds totaling $50,500.
Brodnex, who was found with the woman’s prescription drugs in his pocket, said he found the pills in the Dumpster, the report stated. He was arrested on suspicion of aggravated robbery and possession of dangerous drugs.
Brodnex also remained in the Ector County jail Tuesday. His bond was set at $52,000.
