Man indicted in Arlington hit-and-run that injured elderly man

Posted Tuesday, Mar. 18, 2014

Terry Pinkston, 73, of Arlington speaks to the media as he was released from JPS on Wednesday, February 19, 2014.


BY DEANNA BOYD
dboyd@star-telegram.com

A 25-year-old man who police say tried to flee to Jordan after being involved in a hit-and-run accident that seriously injured an Arlington man has been indicted on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Omar Bashir Mohammed was released from custody March 13, jail records say, after his attorney, Jim Shaw, posted $250,000 bail in the Arlington case and after being released from an immigration hold.

Shaw said that despite Mohammed’s arrest at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, his client is not a flight risk.

“He just freaked out and got some bad advice from elders,” Shaw said.

The four-count indictment, returned by a grand jury Monday, accuses Mohammed of recklessly driving his car off the road on Feb. 15 and striking Terry Pinkston, 73, then fleeing.

Police have said Pinkston was hit from behind about 7:30 a.m. while walking on a sidewalk in the 2400 block of Ascension Boulevard, not far from the apartment complex where Mohammed and his wife live.

Pinkston suffered a head injury and puncture wound in the leg, according to an arrest warrant affidavit, and was later found to have broken ribs, pelvis and vertebrae at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth. He was released from the hospital four days later.

In a telephone interview Tuesday, Pinkston said he is continuing to progress in his recovery.

“It looks like it’s going to be a long time to get back but I think eventually I’ll get back to normal or fairly close to it,” Pinkston said. “In that respect I’m kind of lucky.”

Pinkston said he was out on his routine walk when he was struck.

“I didn’t have my doggie with me that afternoon,” he said. “It was cold that Saturday. He stayed in bed with Mama.”

The affidavit alleges after the wreck, Mohammed parked his damaged Honda Civic at his father’s home on Slaughter Street, saying he was having transmission problems.

He then drove his father’s vehicle for several days before being arrested by DFW Airport police and U.S. Customs agents the night of Feb. 22 while attempting to board a plane to Jordan.

Shaw said his client is college-educated, is working to further his education and is married to an American woman. He said Mohammed is wearing an ankle monitor while free on bail and is “so remorseful” for what he’s done.

In Muslim law, when your family does harm to another family, one of the first things you do is the oldest goes over there and visits and offers help or gifts or remuneration for anything you’ve done and apologizes,” Shaw said. “My client wants to know, ‘When can I do that?’ ”

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