Man Intentionally Drives Into Group of People to Break Up Fight Outside Texas Restaurant, Police Say

A driver was taken into police custody after he intentionally drove into a group of people to break up a fight outside of a Texas restaurant, officers said.

Early Thursday, Harris County sheriff's deputies responded to an accident outside Pinchy's Tex Mex Restaurant on the 1200 block of Mason Road near Katy Freeway around 1 a.m.

The incident started as a fight between seven or eight people inside the restaurant. Investigators say the group spilled into the parking lot when it appears the suspect drove into the crowd to break up a fight between two women involved.

"As the investigation unfolded out here, it became apparent that the person who was driving the vehicle appeared to intentionally run into them, the individuals into the parking lot," Homicide Sergeant Jason Brown said at a press conference.

Deputies confirmed that a 35-year-old Hispanic woman was pronounced dead, two were transported to hospitals, and two more were treated at the scene. Brown said one of the individuals in hospital is undergoing surgery in "serious condition."

Harris County Sheriff's Office Patrol Night Watch Captain John Shannon also said one victim had been transported to the hospital by air with life-threatening injuries.

"The alleged driver initially fled the scene, but later returned and is now detained," Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said in a statement.

ABC13, who was at the scene when the suspect was arrested, described the driver as a man in his 20s who was driving a blue Chevy Malibu. He has been transported to the homicide division for questioning. Charges have not yet been filed.

Deputies with the sheriff's office's vehicular crimes unit is investigating exactly why the suspect drove into the crowd and what his relationship to the victims is. Authorities are also working to determine if the driver was under the influence during the incident.

Jimmy Hernandez, who said his girlfriend's sister-in-law is one of the victims in the hospital, told ABC13 he did not recognize the suspect taken into custody.

"It was senseless. Like, why do that? It's senseless. It's sad and it's senseless. Especially nowadays," Hernandez said. "That's what's sad. I have no idea what it was over. It was one of those things where, 'Hey, let's just go home.' Right? One of those things where something happened. 'Let's break it out and just go home.'"

Newsweek reached out to the Harris County Sheriff's Office for further comment, but did not hear back before publication.