Man blames HPD for allowing convicted prostitute to steal SUV

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A Houston man claims HPD is to blame for allowing a convicted prostitute to steal his SUV.

Gatwey Yaw, 44, is out of a job and a car after being charged with robbery.

It all started at a gas station in southwest Houston on May 25. Yaw says he was parked there to talk on the phone when someone approached his driver's side asking for money. Meantime, a woman grabbed his keys through his passenger side window. He got out and struggled to get the woman's purse to get them back. In the end, the woman kept his keys and he was arrested for robbery, despite his protests.

"I told the officer, they have my car keys. He don't understand me. I don't know whether it was my accent or he don't take my word," said Yaw, a native of Sudan who became an American citizen in 2004.

Yaw spent almost a week in jail and lost his job as a pharmacy technician. On May 31, a judge dismissed the charge citing no probable cause. When Yaw went back to the gas station, his 1996 Izuzu Rodeo was gone.

"Now the case is dismissed, where's my car? The police department should answer my question," Yaw said.

In response, Jodi Silva, a spokeswoman with HPD said, " If he feels he's been treated unfairly, we encourage him to file an Internal Affairs Division complaint."

Eyewitness News went looking for the woman who, according to Yaw, last had his keys. Trezzenia Wilson is listed as the victim in the now-dismissed robbery case against Yaw. Wilson has two prostitution convictions. The door at her only address of record went unanswered.

Yaw plans to file a complaint with HPD. He wants someone held accountable for at least his missing vehicle.

"I feel police gave it away."