HOUSTON – People in one Heights-area neighborhood say they’re alarmed after a realtor and her client were robbed at gunpoint in broad daylight while house hunting.
The client’s baby got caught in the middle of it all.
After looking at several houses, the realtor and client arrived at a listing for lease near the intersection of Kiam Street and Arabelle Street in the Cottage Grove neighborhood around 12:15 p.m. Sunday.
Both victims spoke with KPRC 2′s Bryce Newberry by phone but were too traumatized to tell their stories on camera. One of them said they were disgusted and ready to leave the state. They’re worried because the suspects haven’t been caught.
Houston police said four suspects were following the victims in a gray Nissan Altima as they arrived at the house. One of them then confronted the mother as she got out of the car.
He pulled her baby from a car seat and pointed a gun at her while demanding her diaper bag.
“She’s screaming bloody murder. I’m thinking, ‘What the heck is going on? What happened?’” said one neighbor, who asked to remain anonymous. She said after she heard the commotion, she rushed to help. “It escalated very, very quickly.”
The neighbor, who spoke with the victims after the ordeal, said the mother indicated the robbers were threatening to harm her son.
One suspect stole a gun from the center console of a car, police said, before taking the realtor’s phone and keys. The suspect then fled.
“We have to be more aware of our surroundings than ever before,” said Heights-area realtor Bill Baldwin. “Realtors and the real estate community are dealing with all kinds of crime.”
Baldwin is on the board of the Houston Association of Realtors and said he has never heard of a realtor being robbed at gunpoint.
Neighbors said the worst they usually deal with in the Cottage Grove neighborhood is package thieves or car break-ins.
“People are very alarmed,” the neighbor said. “Everybody has expressed shock ... because this is a violent crime.”
She said the stolen diaper bag, which had an iPad inside, was found not far away.
No one has been arrested. The HPD Robbery Unit is investigating.
Any tips can be reported anonymously to Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.