HOUSTON – Louis Rodriguez calls it his right to speak freely. That’s why he placed a sign in his front yard, displaying a message to passersby of a “botched raid” that he says took place at his home on Sept. 1.
While Rodriguez says the sign allows neighbors to know what happened, his HOA has given him roughly two weeks to remove it.
He says he won’t.
“I don’t know what the consequences are but I don’t have any intention of taking the sign down, okay. I’m not going to do it,” Rodriguez said.
The sign reads “Botched Raid Sept. 1, 2020.” It refers to the day Harris County Sheriff’s Deputies charged through the front door of his home, claiming to have an arrest warrant.
Deputies had the wrong address.
The person for whom they were looking did not live there. Cellphone video recorded by Rodriguez’s family chronicled the ordeal, from when deputies knocked, to when they used a battle ram to enter the home, to when Rodriguez, a retired HPD officer, was apprehended in front of his family.
“The officers are looking for Curtis Rogers in this house and there is no Curtis Rogers that lives in this house. Sir, you have the wrong house,” a voice can be heard yelling before deputies entered.
“They proceeded to grab me and jack me up inside my house. Detain me. Demean and degrade me in front of my family,” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez filed a complaint.
KPRC 2 previously reported HCSO acknowledged they entered the wrong home.
Deputies attempting to execute an arrest warrant on Sept. 1 mistakenly approached the wrong home in the 21100 block of Royal Villa Drive and damaged the front door. Deputies subsequently realized they made a mistake and the Sheriff’s Office arranged to have the door replaced. The Sheriff’s Office regrets the mistake and the incident is under review,” the department wrote in a statement in September.
It’s not the sheriff’s office, however, that’s asked Rodriguez to remove the sign — it’s his HOA.
“A lot of people in this neighborhood have signs in their yards. No trespassing signs. Bad dog signs. It’s just a sign,” Rodriguez said.
It’s a sign, Rodriguez said, leaves a simple message — what he said he learned after the ordeal left he and his family shaken.
“Just everyday working citizens,” he said. “I want them to know that this can happen to you at your home.”
KPRC 2 contacted Crest Management, the company that oversees the HOA. A request for comment has not been answered.