HOUSTON – A mugger and car thief was arrested early Wednesday morning after leading police on a brief chase, during which he shot at officers.
According to Lt. R. Willkens with the Houston Police Department, it all started around 2 a.m. when a young couple was parking at an apartment.
“They were parallel parking by their apartment complex, and the boyfriend was out on the passenger side of the vehicle, helping her parallel park,” he said. “She was still in the driver’s side.”
As she was getting out of the car, Lt. Willkens said an unidentified man walked up to the driver, held a gun to her stomach, and robbed her. The boyfriend tried intervening, and a scuffle ensued until they tried running away. The mugger caught up to them, though, took their keys, and drove off in their car.
Officers were able to catch up to the car thief, but when they tried pulling him over, a brief chase ensued. At the start of the chase, Lt. Willkens said the man pointed a gun and fired at officers, but no one was hit.
He then pulled into an apartment complex on Woodchase Drive, got out of the car, and tried to run, but an officer was able to get ahold of him and deployed a taser before putting him in handcuffs.
The young couple, an 18-year-old man and 16-year-old girl said they are grateful no one was hurt. The boyfriend spoke with KPRC 2 in Spanish, we used a translator.
“I just never thought this would happen to me and my girlfriend,” he said.
He said it was a typical Tuesday night. He and his girlfriend had just left a late night church service.
“We got out of church around midnight, and we were hungry. We stopped to get something to eat on our way back home,” said the boyfriend.
When the couple got back to the girlfriend’s apartment complex, her boyfriend got out of the car to help her parallel park. When she got out of the driver’s seat, the masked man walked up, pointing a gun at them.
“He kept pointing the gun at us saying he wanted to kill us if I didn’t give him everything I had,” the boyfriend said.
The gunman demanded the couple turnover their wallets and money before stealing their car.
Fortunately, the boyfriend said he still had his phone and managed to call 911.
Lt. Willkens noted the unidentified man appeared to be “highly intoxicated on some kind of drug. He is expected to face several criminal charges, but they have not been disclosed, as of this writing.
The couple encourages others to be aware of their surroundings, and to avoid being out late at night.