Nurse who was hit by her own car recalls road rage incident in Dallas: “All I remember is screaming”

DALLAS – A nurse was on her way to work when she witnessed people being attacked on the LBJ Freeway in Dallas. She got out to help but became a victim herself.

The nurse was just one of several people caught up in the chaos in northeast Dallas last week.

Angel Moreno, 26, is accused of using his car, a knife and other people's cars to carry out the attacks.

Meghan Smith still finds it difficult to remember that terrible morning when she didn't know if she would survive.

“I'm often devastated because my husband spends an hour or so changing the bandages,” she said. “I'm so excited that now that they're healing, it only takes half as long.”

Smith has second-degree burns on his shoulders and thighs, abrasions and a broken wrist.

Because of her injuries, she did not want to show her face on camera, but many will recognize her and her red surgical gown from a video of the brutal attack that has been shared online.

The video shows a man stealing Smith's Nissan Altima, then running her over and dragging her along.

Last Tuesday, Smith was on his way to work on I-635.

That was around the time when Moreno began fighting with a man following a multi-vehicle accident, according to Dallas police.

Another driver attempted to break up the fight but was stabbed multiple times by Moreno, who then got into a Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) truck and ran over the worker with his own vehicle.

“I'm running toward him and trying to get up. And I say, 'No, no! Stay calm!' And he says, 'No, he's after us!' That's when I noticed my vehicle moving,” Smith recalls. “I thought he was going to run away.”

According to police, Moreno jumped into Smith's car and ran her over. The nurse was pinned under her own vehicle and then dragged along.

“I remember screaming and thinking that was it,” she recalls.

Fortunately, a witness ran to Smith's Altima and turned the car off.

Only when the police arrived did several people manage to detain the 26-year-old.

Moreno faces a number of charges, including seven counts of aggravated assault.

All were taken to hospital and survived their injuries.

Smith was released the next day.

“Everyone says I would have changed the course of events. Maybe I would have stopped the aggression of the TxDOT employee,” she said. “We are all alive. And I can't say if he would have stopped if I hadn't stopped.”

Smith says she hasn't been able to make contact with the TxDOT employee, but she has spoken to the man who was stabbed. The last time she spoke to him, he was still in the hospital, but he is expected to survive.