SMC becoming The Hoodlands?

Two armed robberies and a home invasion on a typical weekend night

By Jamie Nash / Foster McNair

SOUTH MONTGOMERY COUNTY- Anyone monitoring the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office radio frequencies Saturday night knows The Woodlands area sounded more like inner-city Houston than its image of a safe and quiet suburb, with a home invasion followed by two armed robberies in less than 90 minutes.

* Just after 9 p.m., a home invasion was reported at a residence on West Lansdowne Circle in The Woodlands, where two suspects broke into a home, catching the residents off guard, and then forcing them to remain upstairs while they searched the house.

The two black males, approximately 20 to 30 years old, did not display weapons, but had bulging pockets the victims feared contained weapons. The reportees said one of the men had been to the home the day before, driving a blue car, but dispatchers did not explain the circumstances of that visit.

One of the men was described as well built and wearing what appeared to be a uniform shirt that was a dark color with dark colored pants. They took money and jewelry from the residence. There was no vehicle description available, since the frightened family remained upstairs as instructed and did not look out the windows.

* Around 9:30 p.m., a retail store employee at The Woodlands Mall reported he was walking across the parking lot between the JC Penney and Sears stores when two black males and one Hispanic male robbed him at gunpoint.

The victim said one of his assailants had a mask covering his eye area and the trio fled in a white four-door passenger car with the victim’s wallet and cell phone. A second caller described the same assailants, but added they were all slender built and the one holding the pistol had a hat that was titled to the side.

* Around 10:15 p.m., another robbery was reported in the area of Branch Crossing and Research Forest, where the caller said two males accosted and robbed a man at gunpoint as he walked on a bike path. He said the assailants forced the victim to put his head on the ground, while demanding “Give me your wallet! Give me your wallet!” The caller said the gunman then pointed the pistol at him.

He described the bandits as Hispanic Males in black “gangsta” style clothing, who fled eastbound on Research Forest in a black passenger car, possibly a Toyota or a Honda Civic.

A second caller reported seeing someone mugged in their neighborhood, but said the attackers were both black and not Hispanic

The callers said the victim was walking down the path when the robbers ran from some bushes across the street and tackled him.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office is investigating each of these incidents.