Monday, just before 11:30 p.m., Rafael Pena had gotten off work at Metro Life in Houston and was on his way home in his Ford pick-up when he was rear-ended at the intersection of Canino and Airline.
Pena exited his vehicle to check for damage and make sure the other driver was okay. As he did so, a male from the other vehicle approached Pena with a screwdriver and attempted to rob him. Pena was stabbed in the arm twice before he was able to punch the perpetrator.
The passenger of the other vehicle then exited and approached Pena, changed his mind, then fled north on Airline with the driver.
Unbeknownst to the suspects, Pena followed them to West Road and Airline where they rear-ended another vehicle and attempted to rob again. After realizing Pena had followed them, they fled the scene at a high speed.
Pena, who was speaking with a 911 dispatcher, continued to follow them. The suspects stopped at Greenspoint Mall parking lot, pulled up next to a vehicle, and broke one of its windows. The five suspects — a female, male juvenile, and three adult males — removed property from the damaged vehicle.
Once again, the suspects spotted Pena and fled north on the I-45 feeder at Greens Road, only after doing several doughnuts around the parking lot.
A Houston police unit spotted them after they’d fled and attempted to stop the vehicle. In an attempt to flee, they reached speeds up to 120 mph.
Harris County Sheriff’s Officer entered teh pursuit as the suspects traveled north on I-45. When they reached Cypresswood, the suspects exited the freeway, made a U-turn, and headed south on I-45.
As they approached Richey Road, they exited and continued south on the feeder through the Richey intersection, only to be boxed in by police units with guns drawn.
The suspect driver hit a curb and ran into a patch of shrubbery. After a brief struggle in which one suspect was tazed and a Harris County Deputy broke his finger, all five were taken into custody. Cypress Creek EMS was dispatched to check the deputy and the tazed suspect.
It was later discovered that the suspects’ vehicle was stolen in a robbery the night before, and had been involved in two other robberies and one sexual assault.
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