A would-be robber attacked a Dallas teen walking home from her after-school café job this week, grabbing her by her ponytail, throwing her to the ground and punching her as he tried to steal her bag.
Dallas police are still searching for the man, who they say followed the 17-year-old Richardson High School student for several blocks before he attacked around 8:30 p.m. Monday.
Vaughan Ollier had left work early and was walking home, less than a mile away.
"It was only 8:30 at night. It wasn't even dark yet," said Vaughan Ollier, who spoke with NBC 5 with her mother's permission.
When Vaughan noticed the man along a busy stretch of Walnut Hill Lane, she tried to walk faster, but the man kept following her and eventually started to yell at her.
"I started walking faster and faster and trying to get away, because at that point I was scared," she said.
She started to run, but the man caught up and threw her to the ground.
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"He pulled me by my ponytail, because I had my hair in a ponytail at the time, and I was on the ground holding on to my purse and I wouldn't let go. So he was trying to pull my purse and I was on the ground."
She wouldn't let go of her bag despite the attacker hitting her and trying to rip it off. After a while, he let go and ran off, so the teen was able to run toward the nearest neighbor's home.
"I was just terrified, and so I started yelling, 'Someone just assaulted me, please help!'" she said.
Steven Deininger opened the door.
"I remember, 'Help me! Help me!' And I looked out the peephole and saw it was a girl. I immediately opened the door," Deininger said. "It broke my heart to see her, because I saw the look on her face when I opened the door."
The teen is now safe and relieved the suspect didn't get away with anything, and that a neighbor helped her during a frightening time.
"I was texting all my friends, 'Be careful,' you know, because you're not as safe as you think you are," she said.
Police said the suspect is described as a black man, between 20-25 years old, about 5'11" and 160 pounds. He was wearing a white T-shirt, gray pants and a ball cap.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Dallas Police Department.
This is the same area where, last year, many women were scared to step out of their homes after reports of a serial rapist.
"Oh, it's scary! I feel for her. I can't even begin to imagine what she went through," said Stacy Ellard, who lives in the area.
For days, police were forced to step up patrols and were seen not only driving, but riding their bikes, and even horses, down the streets.
It's a scene Ellard doesn't want to see again.
"It's kind of unsettling. This is supposed to be a safe area and to know she went through that going home, my heart just feels for her," she said.
