Robbie Allen, 73, says he was knocked unconscious by a carjacking suspect after trying to intervene outside the Houston airport.
HOUSTON — More than a month after taking one on the chin, 73-year-old Robbie Allen still has pain.
“My jaw is still not aligned, my teeth still do not match up,” Allen told KHOU 11. “I’m numb from here, all the way back to here.”
Allen was sucker punched by a carjacking suspect outside Hobby Airport as he and others from the Lake Jackson area dropped off a bunch of 8th graders destined for a trip to D.C.
It was around three o’clock in the morning when the relative silence outside the south Houston airport was suddenly shattered.
“Screaming, yelling, ‘They’re trying to steal my car, they’re trying to steal my car,'” recalled Allen. “And it just got louder and louder and louder.”
The good Samaritan said he intervened after seeing the vehicle’s owner, who had parked right behind him, scuffle with the suspect, later identified as 28-year-old Tristan Griffin of Katy.
Allen said he attempted to turn the vehicle off even after Griffin jumped in.
“When I went down to go into the car, that’s when he hit me and I was knocked out immediately,” Allen said. “Knocked out, unconscious.”
Photos taken shortly after the alleged assault show injuries to Allen’s chin and the back of his head.
Despite the injuries, he told us he’d do it again.
“When all that’s going on, you can’t turn your back on somebody,” he explained.
The owner of the vehicle stolen at Hobby said it was later recovered in Jennings, Louisiana.
Incredibly, he told us his wife’s purse was still in it, along with keys, credit cards, a wallet, and even a pistol in the center console.
It wasn’t until after Houston Police issued an alert about Griffin being wanted this week that we learned he was already in custody nearly 800 miles away in Bremen, Georgia.
Turns out, Griffin was arrested after a dramatic pursuit along I-20 in yet another stolen vehicle.
Haralson County Sheriff Stacy Williams shared photos with us from the arrest.
He said Griffin was still being held there on a $7,500 bond, but he faces multiple charges in other states, including Texas.
“I don’t know what his condition was, whether he was on drugs or whether he was just a thief,” Allen said. “But, anyway, he needs to go somewhere where he can get some help. And, to me, that would be jail, the lockup.”
Allen was relieved no one else got hurt that morning, especially the children who were with them.