Posted on 05/24/2004 5:29:07 AM PDT by Jalapeno
May 24, 2004, 12:02AM
By MIKE GLENN
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle
Wielding baseball bats and sticks, a crowd in northwest Houston on Sunday chased down a man suspected of preying on neighborhood children in recent weeks.
"We know him. The whole neighborhood knows him," said Carlos Gonzalez.
Residents told police the 44-year-old man tried to lure children into his van last week while it was parked at a nearby elementary school. They also accused him of hugging a 12-year-old boy on Saturday while he was wearing women's clothing.
Neighborhood children initiated the pursuit of the suspected child predator.
"The little kids spotted him. The little kids started the chase," Gonzalez said. "All the little kids in the neighborhood -- they had sticks and everything."
About 20 children, mostly armed with sticks, began following the man when they spotted him at 12:45 p.m. near Peg and Bolin.
Adults joined in the chase when the man threatened the youngsters.
"I came out with a baseball bat," Gonzalez said. "When he saw the men coming, he ran."
The residents cornered the man in a fenced-in yard near Granite and Bolin until police arrived.
The homeowner called police and pleaded with the crowd to not harm the man. Gonzalez said the man dropped a bundle on the ground that contained a girl's shirt wrapped around several pictures of small children.
Officers arrested the man when they discovered the van he was driving had been stolen. They found several pairs of socks, a boy's T-shirt and a pair of girl's underwear inside the vehicle.
Though arrested for car theft, detectives were attempting to determine if he had been under investigation on child molestation or related charges.
While nobody was hurt during Sunday's pursuit, officers said residents shouldn't take the law into their own hands.
"You need to call law enforcement and let us handle that," said Houston police officer S.A. Burk.
Police said officers have responded to two calls in the area recently, but none resulted in any arrest. It wasn't known late Sunday whether any of the calls were about sexual assault allegations.
Resident Alfonso Martinez, who has a 4-year-old son and a 7-year-old daughter, said he hoped Sunday was the last day they would see the man in their neighborhood. "I hope he doesn't come back," Martinez said.
Gee, Texans are so uptight...
"You need to call law enforcement and let us handle that," said Houston police officer S.A. Burk, so we can put him back on the street to prey on your children."
Ain't that the truth. Texans are completely out of the mainstream.
Ugh. Hopefully the cop had his fingers crossed when he said this.
GO TEXAS!
This is great news! When the government fails to do it's job, it's up to the people. Where are the lefties crying out "power to the people" when something like this comes along?
Residents: 100%; Police: 0%
Who you gonna to call when there's trouble in your 'hood?
IF I was the LEO, I would have egged the crowd on and come back when the creep was beaten to a bloddy pulp.
Why, to give that child molester a good head start?
SALUTE!!!...way to go!
ping!
THAT'S why they took the law into their own hands! 2 calls and the guy's still trolling for children. He's lucky he hadn't been beaten to death.
Go get a donut.
By the time the cops left the donut shop ,waited for backup and showed up the guy would have been long gone.
Citizens need to look out for each other, the police cant do it. They are too busy out writing seat belt tickets. Protecting us from ourselves.
At the least this butthead has had the crap scared out of him and wont haunt this neighborhood any more ,Somehow liberal Judges dont frighten perverts like a Dad with a baseball bat.
Right! Always a day late and a dollar short. I like the vigilante mob instead.
And the Homofascist crowd will swear he was "born that way" and cannot "help it."
Yes --- especially when led by children. But when people don't feel the cops can handle it, the vigilante mobs will.
;-)
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