Two fake DoorDash drivers allegedly tied up a Houston mother in front of her terrified young children during a daring robbery, then shot a police officer in the leg when he rushed to her rescue, authorities said.
According to the woman's father, the frightening incident began Tuesday morning when two men wearing surgical masks and carrying red DoorDash bags knocked on the front door of the family's home.
The father explained that when the mother, who gave her name only as Nicole, answered the door and said it was the wrong address, violent men broke down the door and ransacked the house.
“As soon as she opened the door, he grabbed a gun from a DoorDash bag and forced his way in,” said her homeowner and father, Ben Bates. He told KHOU.
“They tied up my daughter, took my one-year-old and three-year-old and started ransacking the house,” Bates continued.
“They didn't do anything with the kids, but they did have her show them around the room and look for things to take.”
A neighbour witnessed the crime and called the police, who quickly dispatched two officers to the scene.
Officers found a mother and a child in the living room with the suspects still inside the home.
As suspect Michael Perez was being arrested, a second suspect emerged from a bedroom and began firing at officers, striking Officer S. Durfee in the leg and Houston Police Chief J. Noe Diaz. He said at a press conference on Tuesday.
Durfee, a nine-year veteran of the police department, was able to fire at the second suspect but was unable to hit him.
Police said the shooter, identified as Raymond Perez, fled the home and was later arrested a block away from the house.
A third suspect, identified as Brian Garcia Chavez, was arrested about six hours later after fleeing the home in a vehicle, police said.
Raymond Perez is charged with aggravated assault on a public servant, robbery with a deadly weapon and unlawful possession of a weapon. Houston police said.
Michael Perez, 38, and Chavez, 18, are charged with robbery with a deadly weapon.
All suspects are in custody but the victim's family is distraught.
“I've never experienced anything like this in my life,” said Bates, the woman's father. He told KPRC.
“But I can't imagine what my daughter is going through right now.”
