Northwest Harris County – A group of burglars targeted a home in Northwest Harris County. One was caught, but there may be as many as two others on the loose. They may have all gotten away, had it not been for one observant neighbor, armed with a gun.
For the second time in just a month, Carmen Cadwell answered a call that sent her into a panic. It was from her home security company alerting her to a possible break-in at her house on Melody Park. She says the first time, the criminals took off without any valuables as the alarm sounded. But this time, the thieves were bolder, smashing the back window to get in, lifting a 50 inch television and other electronics as the alarm went off.
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"I'm like oh my God, not again," says Cadwell. "It's sad that you can't even feel safe in your own home."
But as the burglars tried to make their escape, they weren't counting on watchful neighbors with a loaded gun.
"I heard the alarm going off and looked in the back and saw two guys back there and started walking back and that's when I saw the tv," says Cadwell's next door neighbor, Lawrence Montemayor.
He grabbed his 9 millimeter and chased one suspect to a waiting car. "I pointed the gun at him. It's amazing what a gun will do at your head." Montemayor says that was enough to get the suspect out of the car with his hands up.
He pinned the suspect to the ground. As he waited for deputies to arrive, Montemayor says the young suspect started talking. "[He said] 'please, sir, please sir, it wasn't me. I had nothing to do with it. I just drove them over here," says Montemayor.
At least one thief is still on the run, but Cadwell finds comfort in knowing that because of Montemayor, part of the team accused of targeting her home is already behind bars. "He is a hero in my book," says Cadwell.
To that Montemayor modestly says he doesn't see himself as anything but a good neighbor. "No, I'm just watching out for my neighbors, that's all. They're family," he says.