Bar owners in Texas have resorted to sleeping in water fountains armed with guns, thanks to constant robberies and the city’s anti-crime policies.
Lindsey Rae, owner of Houston’s Two-Headed Dog, was part of a coalition of bar owners who asked elected officials for help Wednesday.
“I’ve been robbed 15 times in the last year,” Ray said at a city council meeting.
“If they are arrested, we see them being re-released because of the cash guarantee issues that we have,” Ray explained. and can rob us again.”
After Raul Jacobo’s Cobos Barbecue was attacked twice in two weeks, he began sleeping with a gun in his restaurant office instead of staying home with his wife.
“If we have to protect our property, if we feel vulnerable or frightened of our lives and have to do what we have to do, it’s in the hands of the city.” Jacobo told KHOU.
Violent felons in Texas’ largest city are repeatedly set free on extremely low bail or so-called “personal bonds.”
A KTRK study found that one-fifth of crimes in Bayou City were committed by people who may be in custody.
Todd Jones broke into a Glitter karaoke store he owned and held the crooks in custody until police arrested him, he told KHOU.
“The next thing I knew, he was out. [of jail] The next day,” he said.
He added:
“Both of my windows are broken. I’m like, ‘Man, they’re going to break again in the next few days and I don’t want to fix them.'”
Disgusted entrepreneurs also cited slow response times from police.
City leaders assured the victims that their case was a priority for investigators and that Houston police had stepped up patrols in the targeted area.
