HOUSTON – A mother of two young children claims her downstairs neighbor broke through her tile floor and “pepper sprayed” her, following a series of unresolved noise complaints.
The incident happened in late June at the Doma Chase condominium complex located in the 9700 block of Richmond Avenue in west Houston.
“He came through the hole and pepper sprayed you?” KPRC2 Investigator, Joel Eisenbaum, asked.
“In the hole, yeah,” said tennant Teisha Rodriguez.
This is BONKERS. Exclusive KPRC2 TV: 5/6p Women claims downstairs neighbor busted through her floor and pepper sprayed her. We found he's had neighbor trouble before.
Posted by KPRC2 Joel Eisenbaum on Friday, July 15, 2022
Part of the incident was captured on video by Rodriguez.
The pepper spray incident was later confirmed by the Houston Police Department, however other details of the incident are disputed, including who actually broke through the floor.
The video appears to clearly show the hole in the floor was punched out from below.
“No comment,” said 50-year-old Jose Luis Saenz, the downstairs occupant told.
A public information officer with HPD said the case was forwarded to the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, but the D.A.’s office declined to move forward with an assault charge because some of the facts are in dispute.
Neither Saenz nor Rodriguez has been charged with any crime related to the incident.
KPRC2 Investigates found that in 2017 Saenz was involved in another incident with another family occupying the same unit as Rodriguez after a charging document claimed Saenz had performed a lewd act in front of a 10-year-old child.
Saenz was convicted of indecent exposure, a Class B misdemeanor, and was sentenced to 180 days in Harris County Jail, court records show.
Rodriguez said she plans to move and her landlord, who is suing Saenz for damaging the unit, has been helpful, but the process of moving is expensive, and she has not found another place to live yet.