Woman says intoxicated neighbor threw her 3-year-old out of a truck before he stole it

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A terrifying ordeal involving a woman, her 3-year-old, and an intoxicated neighbor played out in southwest Houston.

James Bennett faced a judge on Wednesday for allegedly throwing the 3-year-old on the ground and then taking off in her mother's truck.

Vilma Chacon said Bennett stole her truck but eventually drove it back to the scene of his crime. By that time, police had arrived.

Chacon snapped pictures of Bennett's arrest, who she said lives right next door to her mother. She added that Bennett had always been friendly in the past, but all of that changed on Monday.

Chacon said she was getting ready to put her 3-year-old daughter in her car seat when Bennett grabbed her and demanded her keys.

Bennett is accused of throwing Chacon's daughter out of the truck, causing scrapes and bruises on her arms and legs. Since then, Chacon said her daughter wakes up crying. She's also been having a hard time sleeping.

"It was something that you never want to go through. That scary moment. For me, it was not really the truck. It was my daughter, there. The fact that he grabbed her. We don't know what went through his mind that day, because like I said, he was always saying 'Hi.' Everyone on that street knew him. He was really friendly, but that day he wasn't," she recalled.

Bennett is being held in the Harris County jail on a combined bond of about $101,500.

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