One in custody, one on the run after smashing pickup into store

HOUSTON

The wild chain of events left behind a huge mess at the Gulf store on Mesa and Linda Vista in northeast Houston. The incident happened around 2am Monday when no one was here.

The store is open for business Monday, but the owners have a lot of cleaning up to do.

Huma Rahman and her children will spend the next several hours cleaning up the mess left behind by a suspected thief trying to steal from their family's convenience store.

"The way he was breaking in, you know, My God!" said Rahman. "(He) kept backing in."

Rahman showed us the dramatic surveillance video captured by their camera. You see the driver of a pickup ramming the storefront several times, using the truck's rear. Moments later, the driver speeds away with police on his tail. One suspect hops out of the truck and flees, while the other is chased down and taken into custody.

"Well, it's a little nerve-racking for me because I come in here periodically to buy cigarettes, candy, beer," said customer Charles Gillia.

Turns out the black pickup truck was stolen from Jennifer Strahan's grandfather.

"I was home watching TV when I heard my grandfather's truck start up and I was like, 'What the what?'" said Strahan. "I jumped up and by the time I made it out the door, he was driving off."

So as Rahman and her children pick up the pieces Monday morning, their regular customers pray for the family who's been down on their luck. In the last year, a gunman shot Rahman's husband here during an attempted robbery. He survived and together they will survive this as well.

"I feel real bad. I mean, they're out here to help us, out here to help everybody," said customer Jason Charles.

Police say the suspects didn't get away with anything.

Floyd Bernard Payne, 32, faces charges of criminal mischief, evading arrest and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.

That second suspect is still at large, and authorities say he will face charges. Anyone with information as to his whereabouts is urged to call Houston police.
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