Man charged with capital murder in tow truck driver's death

SUGAR LAND, Texas (KTRK) -- The man accused of stealing a tow truck driver's wrecker, killing him, and then leading police on a chase has been charged with capital murder.

Jonathan Nguyen, 27, was arrested Friday afternoon and charged with capital murder.

The incident started near Beechnut and Kirkwood and ended with a crash on U.S. 90 in Sugar Land.

The driver who was hit at U.S. 90 and Brooks Street only got a few scrapes.

Eyewitness News reporter Erica Simon spoke to his wife at their home this evening, and while they didn't want to be interviewed, they said they are so sad about what happened to the tow truck driver, Curtis Martin.

Nguyen was taken to the hospital for his injuries, then arrested.

What started as a brazen act of theft, now has him looking at felony murder charges.

"All of a sudden we seen the tow truck moving. He said, 'hey, somebody's on my tow truck. I said, 'no, it's rolling towards the truck.' So he ran to it and then he came back. He said, 'that guy work with y'all?' I said no. He goes 'Oh, he's stealing my car. Give me the keys. Give me the keys,'" witness Tito Moczygemba said.

Moczygemba says they followed Nguyen and caught up with him at a light, but things went downhill quickly.

"I got out on the passenger seat and when the guy saw us getting out of the car, he smashed the car into both of us. I moved out of the way and they got him in between the two cars," Moczygemba said.

Thanks to the quick action of a bystander, Nguyen didn't go unnoticed.

"Another witness follows the suspect, flags down the police officer. Police officer gets behind him and a chase ensues," Assistant Chief James Jones of HPD said.

It ended on U.S. 90 with a wild crash.

To avoid a tragedy like this from ever happening again, police encourage the public to let them handle the "bad guys."

"We can always get the property back at another point but you can't get a life back - so call the police, be a good witness, do whatever you can," Assistant Chief Jones said.

A vigil will be held on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Walmart located on Beechnut and Kirkwood.