Attack at Dallas Farmers Market ends with man in custody, woman in hospital

A man was arrested and a woman was hospitalized Tuesday after she was cut in an altercation that ended at the Dallas Farmers Market, police said.

Officers were called shortly before 3:30 p.m. to investigate reports of a man with a gun on the east side of the public market, across from the Taylor Lofts, Dallas Police Deputy Chief Thomas Castro said.

There they found the unidentified victim with a cut on her hand. She was taken to Baylor University Medical Center with an injury that is not believed to be life-threatening.

Outside the market, a bloodied rag and a baseball bat lay on the ground within a perimeter of police tape.

Castro said that while the investigation is still ongoing, police believe that the dispute began as an aggravated robbery, possibly at a nearby homeless shelter, and carried over to the Farmer’s Market as a woman and others chased down and confronted the perpetrator.

“We think she was trying to recover her property,” Castro said.

The fracas disrupted the late-lunch crowd near Taqueria La Ventana and Rex’s Seafood as the man attempted to escape his pursuers.

“He was walking real fast from the lady,” said Sashah Alaniz, who works at a Cajun eatery inside the market.

At some point during the confrontation, Alaniz said, the man entered the prep area of the taqueria and grabbed a knife, ultimately swinging it at the woman and striking her arm. “Then he got maced,” she added.

A market security guard who asked not to be identified said the man was clad only in boxer shorts and a T-shirt.

“I guess an argument got out of hand,” he said. “They were throwing chairs and stuff.”

Market patrons scattered for safety as the commotion escalated, with workers at the taco place particularly rattled as the man entered their work area.

“They was just cooking tacos,” the security guard said.

Castro said investigators haven’t yet decided what charges will be filed as police attempt to sort out the incident.