DALLAS – Police have arrested a man they believe brazenly and seemingly randomly attacked a woman in Downtown Dallas.
36-year-old Antonio Banks has been charged with aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury.
Antonio Banks (Source: Dallas County Jail)
The attack in Downtown Dallas has caught attention nationwide.
Video acquired by FOX 4 showed the suspect walking up to an unsuspecting woman at the intersection of Elm and Field Street last Thursday. The man then hits the woman from behind with a blunt object and barely breaks stride as he walks away.
According to an arrest warrant, the victim works at the George Allen Courts building off Commerce Street.
On Thursday, she began walking in Downtown around 1 o’clock for her lunch break.
She was working unaware that Banks began following her.
14 minutes later security footage from a 7-Eleven off Elm Street shows Banks continuing to follow her.
One minute later, the brutal footage shows Banks swinging a blunt object covered in a red garment.
The impact caused the woman to “immediately fall to the ground unconscious, resulting in multiple gashes and facial fractures on the right side of her head.”
The woman was taken to the hospital in stable condition.
FOX 4 spoke with Downtown Dallas Inc., a nonprofit that provides security downtown. The group helped gather surveillance video for police.
“I screamed, slash gasped. Just the brazen nature was very concerning,” said Jennifer Scripps, the CEO and President of Downtown Dallas Inc. “I haven’t seen anybody who’s seen it who hasn’t had that response.”
Scripps says their security officers were first on the scene.
“It’s not good for our city, it’s not for people who work down here and live down here,” said Scripps.
Dallas police say Banks is currently in a Dallas County Jail on separate, unrelated charges.
On Monday afternoon, Banks was arrested for criminal trespassing at the UNT System building off Main Street. Banks was taken to jail, and on Tuesday, detectives matched his clothing and description to the assault suspect and obtained a warrant for aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury.
Jail records show Banks was on parole when this happened.
It is unclear what crime or conviction that was related to.
According to the affidavit, Banks’ listed address is a homeless shelter in Dallas.
The affidavit does not list a possible motive.
Since FOX 4 posted video of the attack last week, many people have commented about the bystanders not helping, at least in portions of the video we received.
“It is my hope they didn’t even register what had just happened,” Scripps said.
