As a frequent runner of the Katy Trail in Dallas, Sarrah McCoy said she’s familiar with occasional strange behavior by others. But while jogging at 1:15 p.m. on Sunday, McCoy said it was the last thing on her mind that she was about to become a robbery victim.
“I got about almost to the Maple Street Bridge when a gentleman approached me. There was another one on the other side of the bicycle path facing the trees,” McCoy explained.
“As I started getting closer to him he started approaching me. I thought maybe he was just going to ask me for money or something, so I was planning to go around him and get on my way. But right as I got within a few inches of him he stepped right in front of me and said something,” she said.
McCoy said she removed her headphones and that’s when the man told her to hand over her phone.
“Then he pulled out a gun and puts it right to my chest and said, ‘Give me you phone,’” she said.
McCoy said she immediately did as the man asked, then he told her to run away as fast as she could.
When she got to the Katy Trail Ice House she immediately called 911.
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While talking to an officer who came to get her report, police called in another robbery.
“While the police officer was talking to me the police radioed in and said there was another couple that had gotten robbed too and they were on their way,” she said.
Dallas police report at least five people were robbed on the trail since last Thursday.
The description of the armed robbers is consistent, police said. During a news conference Monday afternoon the men were described as black, in their 20s, standing between 5 feet 7 and 6 feet tall and weighing between 140 and 200 pounds. The men were wearing bluejeans and either grey, blue or black hoodies. In each case, one or both of the men were armed -- but a silver revolver, or another handgun, was present in each of the robberies, police said.
Philip Kingston is the Dallas City Councilman for the area around the trail and said his office is working closely with police.
“In the near term police have significantly increase their presence on the trail. They don’t’ give numbers out, but they have both uniformed and undercover elements out on the trail now,” Kingston said.
Kingston did ask trail users to keep in mind attacks along the trail are very rare.
According to city records, the last violent attack along the trail was in September 2014.
The nonprofit group Friends of the Katy Trail said 30,000 people use the trail each week.
“We want to make it a place where people feel safe to go,” Kingston said.
McCoy agreed.
“Yeah, it was pretty scary. I’m not going to lie about that. I’m not going to be afraid either,” she said.
Anyone with information on the armed robberies is asked to call the Dallas Police Department at 214-671-3584 or Crime Stoppers at 214-373-TIPS. Callers can remain anonymous. Tipsters can also share information on Dallas' iWatch app.
