Food Network Star Speaks Out After Being Shot 11 Times During Robbery

Tobias Dorzon is opening up for the first time about the life-changing robbery that landed him in the hospital with near-fatal injuries.

The Food Network star, 40, was shot 11 times during a robbery outside of his home in Hyattsville, Md., on Nov. 5, 2024, as he and his girlfriend, Crystal Swan, were returning home from dinner in an Uber.

Dorzon told PEOPLE in a new interview published Tuesday that he noticed a vehicle stop behind his Uber, but didn’t think much of it until several people emerged from the car with guns as he stepped out of his rideshare to open the door for Swan, 39.

It was then that the shooting began. “I was trying to cover her and then I started getting hit,” Dorzon recalled. “I went to the ground and tried to drag myself toward the curb, but I couldn’t hear my girl.”

The celebrity chef, who is father to 19-year-old Riley and 11-year-old Torienne, continued, “You got that last second of almost thinking, are you still going to be here? People walking towards you that just shot you multiple times, what are they coming for? Are they coming to kill you? Are they coming to rob you? You really don’t know the end result. I’m just hoping my kids are good.”

Dorzon was then robbed of his Audemars Piguet watch and his diamond necklace, among other items, before the five robbers fled the scene. (Police have since arrested 21-year-old Devin Demetrius Spivey in connection with the incident, and he faces 18 charges, including attempted first- and second-degree murder, first-degree assault, armed robbery and stalking. Spivey has pleaded not guilty.)

Bleeding on the curb, Dorzon was somehow able to FaceTime his brother to tell him what had happened, and a neighbor also called 911. Dorzon had been shot 11 times, and his girlfriend had also been hit.

Dorzon was told when he awoke in the hospital that he would likely never walk again, but after two months in the hospital, multiple surgeries, and physical therapy, he has managed to beat the odds — although he is left with no feeling in one finger. Swan, who also survived her injuries, has been helping Dorzon along the way as he recovers.

“I really didn’t know what to take from everything,” the chef admitted to the outlet. “For somebody that just never really been in trouble, I thought coming back home to build something in my hometown, being a hometown hero, something like that could never happen to me.”

He added, “I ask myself every day, ‘Was I wrong for going out that night? Should I have not went out that night?’ It’s just so many different things that I ask myself, but I’m here. I tell myself every day God got a bigger purpose for me.”

Dorzon will return to television on Wednesday with the premiere of Food Network’s Tournament of Champions: All-Star Christmas, and while he can’t move as fast as he once did in the kitchen, he’s focusing on the details to compete in a new way.

“I’m just super grateful to be here, to be in the moment, and to still be able to cook and give people an experience,” he said. “That has always been my biggest focus and my dream, to create a memorable food experience for others.”