Hours after police arrested a man accused of breaking into a restaurant, KPRC learned he is now facing more serious charges stemming from an unrelated sex assault case.
Police said Usaveus Austin broke into the Chick-fil-A in the 6800 block of West Sam Houston Parkway just before 3 a.m. Thursday.
When police arrived, Austin ran into the woods and into a retention pond. Police said he swam to an island-like structure and refused to get off.
“Anytime you are talking about water it’s dangerous,“ Houston police Lt. Larry Crowson.
Police called in a dive team to help get Austin back across the pond. The SWAT team and Houston Fire Department were also called to assist.
Austin was taken into custody around 6:15 a.m.
Austin is now facing two additional charges -- aggravated sexual assault and aggravated kidnapping.
The woman he's accused of raping, a woman who only wants to be identified as Allison, says she found out about his arrest Thursday morning while she was at work.
She says she broke down and cried when she heard he'd been arrested, calling them tears of joy.
Austin has been on the run since September.
That's when police said he forced his way into Allison's Greenspoint-area apartment, abducted her, robbed her at gunpoint, threatened to kill her and then sexually assaulted her.
She says she still has nightmares about the awful night.
"Honestly, I would tell him may God have mercy on you. It's not me to judge who he was for what he did to me," Allison said. "I have a lot of hate towards him but I can't put it into words."
Allison said news of his arrest gives her peace of mind.
She says now she'll be able to sleep soundly at night and will no longer have to look over her shoulder.
"This gentleman should receive nothing less than life without parole. For what he did to this lady, the heinous crime he committed against this lady, how long he tortured and kidnapping her, abducted her. This man should be locked away and the key thrown away," Quanell X said.
Austin's accomplice from the attack on Allison is still on the loose.
