Santa Maria Woman Describes Carjacking Ordeal

Dianna Graney says she and her father and brother had just finished lunch at the iconic Pappy’s Diner on East Betteravia Road near Highway 101 in Santa Maria Sunday afternoon when a man came up from behind them.

“My Dad and brother and I had just finished eating at Pappy’s and we were at the car and I’m the driver”, Dianna Graney says, “I was opening the door, and I think I was just getting ready to put my cane down in this one spot where I keep it, and this guy came from behind and started pulling me back, I don’t know if he grabbed my waist or whether he just pulled me or what, it was so fast and he started grabbing my keys.”

Dianna Graney says she initially tried to resist the suspect.

“I tried to keep him from getting those (car keys) but he was too strong”, Dianna Graney says, “I couldn’t hold onto them, and he got them.”

“Did the suspect say anything to you while he was trying to grab your keys?”, Graney was asked, “no, he was quiet, he didn’t say a word, he just grabbed and tried to pull me out of the way.”

Graney says that’s when an off-duty Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s deputy sprung into action.

“He said he was watching this man and at first he thought maybe that the man knew us and he was just doing something with us, but wasn’t the case”, Graney says, “and he was observant enough to see that.”

Graney says the off-duty deputy had just pulled into the Pappy’s back parking lot, witnessed the attempted carjacking and shouted at the suspect to get on the ground at gunpoint.

“Thankfully he had his gun”, Graney says, “he told me later that he almost didn’t take it with him so I was so grateful that he was there because he stopped the whole thing.”

‘Were you hurt in anyway?”, Graney was asked about the unarmed carjacker, “I think maybe my pride a little bit for letting go of my keys.”

“I don’t believe in coincidences”, Graney says about the deputy being there when he was, “I believe that he was there for a purpose, that God had him there just at that right time, I’m a Christian and I trust God to help me and He did, He provided the deputy Sheriff and protected us and that’s how I feel.”

The suspect, 23 year old Antonio Omar Jimenez Lazaro of Salinas, was taken into custody by Santa Maria Police and booked into jail on $100,000 bail.

“Actually he wasn’t super big, but he was strong”, Graney says about the suspect, “I don’t know if he was on anything or not, but he had a lot of strength and I’m disabled and my strength is not that great.”

Still visibly shaken by the ordeal, Graney says she and her family will return to Pappy’s where they’ve been eating since it opened in 1959.

“Oh yes, maybe a little more diligent about looking around when I go to the parking lot”, Dianna Graney says, “I think it changes how you feel.”

Graney says she forgot the name of the off-duty deputy who came to her aid in her time of need.

“I think was I was in shock at the time, I can’t remember right now”, Dianna Graney says about the name of the deputy, “I’d like to get it so I can maybe write a thank you note or something.”