CRANDALL, Texas — In this week’s Crandall Flashback, we look back at a frightening early morning in 2021 that left one Crandall woman with a concussion, and helped police crack open a string of car burglaries hitting the same neighborhood.
According to a report from WFAA, Crandall resident Misty Waddle walked outside one early morning several weeks before the story was published and noticed the back door of her SUV standing wide open. At first, she assumed her son was the one going through the vehicle in the driveway. She quickly realized it was a stranger.
WFAA reported that Waddle described the face of the person inside her car as something she still cannot stop seeing.
Per WFAA, Waddle was one of several victims that morning as part of what police called a growing pattern of late night and early morning car burglaries across North Texas. The outlet reported that Crandall police said nine homes in the same neighborhood were targeted that night alone.
WFAA quoted Crandall Police Chief Forrest Frierson, who said that all of the vehicles hit that night had been left unlocked.
According to the report, the Collin County Sheriff’s Office and the Joint East Texas Fugitive Task Force arrested two individuals, Devin Zimmerman and Kassidy Weaver, on burglary charges connected to the case.
WFAA reported that Waddle said Zimmerman was inside her car holding her Louis Vuitton purse when she confronted him. She told the outlet she grabbed her purse back and physically fought him off, striking him before the struggle escalated.
Waddle told WFAA that everything after that moment went blank. She said she was knocked unconscious and has no memory of how long she was out. When she came to, she found herself underneath her own SUV, looking up at the underside of the vehicle and initially believing she was dreaming.
According to the report, Waddle said her vision was blurry and she felt dizzy, sore and nauseous when she regained consciousness. By that point, no one else was around. WFAA reported that video surveillance later surfaced from the neighborhood showing Zimmerman checking door handles on parked vehicles, which police said helped identify him after an anonymous tip led investigators to the footage.
Per WFAA, Chief Frierson said most of the property stolen that night was recovered and returned to its owners following the arrests.
WFAA reported that Waddle said she wished her own home security cameras had captured the struggle, believing the footage might help explain what happened during the parts of the incident she cannot remember. Her bruises healed and her concussion took about a week to recover from, but for the first couple of weeks afterward, her husband walked her out to her car each morning.
Crandall Flashback is a recurring feature looking back at notable moments in Crandall area history and news.
Source: WFAA. Original reporting by Jobin Panicker, published May 21, 2021.
