Home / Dallas News / Man with fake bomb strapped to his body tried to steal 2 vehicles, Dallas police say

Man with fake bomb strapped to his body tried to steal 2 vehicles, Dallas police say

A man with a fake explosive device strapped to his body tried to steal two vehicles outside an Old East Dallas office building before creating a bomb scare, police said.

Marquis Allen, 29, was arrested Thursday on two counts of aggravated robbery and one count of hoax bombs. He did not have an attorney listed in court records.

About 5:30 p.m. Thursday, police were notified of a disturbance in the parking lot of an office building in the 4100 block of the northbound North Central Expressway service road.

When officers arrived, a security officer was holding down a man matching a description of the suspect in the lobby. An officer handcuffed the man — later identified as Allen — then felt a bulge near his stomach while frisking him, according to an arrest-warrant affidavit.

The officer pulled up Allen’s shirt and saw what looked like an explosive device, four red cylinders taped together, along with multicolored wires, the affidavit says.

The officer backed away from Allen and told people to evacuate the building.

While police waited for the department’s bomb squad to arrive, Allen told officers that he and an Army buddy had built the homemade device and that he didn’t know what its blast radius was, asking them, “Do you want to find out?” the affidavit says.

The bomb squad determined that the device was fake and arrested Allen. He was taken to a hospital for evaluation before being booked into the Dallas County jail.

Meanwhile, police spoke to the owners of two vehicles they said Allen attempted to steal shortly before the bomb scare.

One man told authorities that he and another person were in the parking lot when Allen approached them, lifting his shirt to show the fake bomb and telling them he needed the car, according to the affidavit. Allen tried to open the driver’s door, the affidavit says, but they were able to drive off when another man approached Allen.

That man told police that he saw Allen harassing the others and told him to stop, but when he turned and started walking away Allen tackled him, hit him with a rock and took his car keys.

Allen used the rock to smash the man’s car window, despite having the keys, the affidavit says, and then attempted to drive off. But he couldn’t put the car in reverse because of a transmission issue. Allen then got out of the car and tried to get into the office building. The man told police he then grabbed a pellet gun from his car in an attempt to stop Allen.

Allen remained in custody Friday, with bail set at $110,000.

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