HOUSTON – Ike Umar woke up early Tuesday morning to find a shirtless man sneaking around his Galleria-area home.
“He was trying to look inside our bedroom,” he said.
Surveillance cameras captured the intruder walking into Umar’s backyard.
Umar said his wife hid in the closet with their six-month-old daughter and called 911. He grabbed his gun and confronted the man.
“I said what are you doing here? Why are you here? hH said I’m hiding, my gang, they’re trying to kill me,” Umar said.
Umar told KPRC 2 the man claimed there were six men looking for him and they were all armed.
Unsure of what to do, Umar held the man at gunpoint and stood guard in the family’s backyard. He was hoping for a quick response from the Houston Police Department but he claims 47 minutes passed before they arrived.
“I think HPD dropped the ball,” said Umar.
KPRC 2 called HPD who said the initial 911 caller did not give them all the information but after several calls, they got the full story and upgraded the priority of the call.
“I remember when my wife made the first call she said we have a guy standing right outside the window looking inside, an intruder. What priority should that be?” Umar said.
HPD is investigating the incident but said no charges were filed against the intruder. He was taken in for a psychiatric evaluation though.
Umar believes more has to be done to address the issue and said he’s reached out to Mayor Sylvester Turner about the incident and plans to speak at the next city council meeting.