ORLANDO, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35 ORLANDO) -
A man in his car at the drive-through window of an Orlando McDonald's restaurant during a fatal stabbing Christmas night tried to stop the suspect from making a getaway, Orlando Police said.
Brian Hyser, 27, said he was at the McDonald's on Colonial Drive and John Young Parkway on Tuesday night when "I heard a yell, and I look over and I see this black man pull a knife out of this guy's left side, his stomach or something like that," he said.
"He yelled and said, 'I've been stabbed, I've been stabbed,'" Hyser said.
Officers say Jerry Tyson, 38, used a butcher knife to fatally stab a man in a wheelchair during an attempted robbery inside the McDonald's. Hyser said he saw the incident from his car and was determined not the let the suspect get away.
"I was driving around the other side and continued to follow him, honked my horn real loud and yelled at him," Hyser said.
Finally, Hyser struck the suspect with his own car while on the phone with 911 operators, giving officers some lead time to track the suspect, who then ran off into a wooded area off John Young Parkway, where police dogs found him.
"Gut instinct tells you to just do what you feel is right, and I felt like to slow him down, give the cops some time to get there to apprehend the guy was what I was supposed to do," Hyser said.
The victim's name has not yet been released pending next of kin notification.
The suspect, a convicted felon, was just released from prison last week and is now facing second-degree felony murder charges.
McDonald's issued a statement saying, "We are cooperating fully with the authorities in their investigation of the matter, and ask that all further inquiries be directed to the Orlando Police Department."
Hyser is glad he followed his instincts.
"I could be in trouble. Obviously, I put my life in danger a little bit, but would I do it again? Absolutely," Hyser said.
