Homeowners hit by Harvey now targeted by burglars
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Homeowners in two west Houston neighborhoods hit hard by flooding from Hurricane Harvey now are being victimized again.
"Did they forget that we've already lost everything," said Judith Brocklehurst.
Her home was flooded in Harvey. They are still deciding whether to rebuild. Right now, her entire downstairs is stripped to the studs. Still, she says, someone broke into her home earlier this week looking to steal something of value. She says they didn't get anything because the only items left upstairs really are not things anyone would want.
Brocklehurt's home is one of up to a dozen, police say, in the Nottingham VII and Westchester neighborhoods that have been targeted by burglars since the flood.
She said what hurts most is the departure from feelings of goodwill she received from so many strangers after the flood.
"It's an absolute contrast to what happened three and a half months ago. It's hard to equate that one," she said.
On Wednesday around 10:45 p.m., someone rang the door bell at Justin Reichenau's home.
"Why is there somebody at my door at 11 at night trying to deliver pizza?" he asked.
He hadn't ordered pizza.
"I felt like something was fixing to happen," he said.
After several minutes the man left, but came back minutes later. By then, Reichenau had his gun.
"I was holding it here, ready to go," he told ABC13.
The person at the door left without incident, his true intentions unknown.
But police and the FBI are looking at the video captured by Reichenau's doorbell camera and its possible connections to an organized burglary ring.
"Given what we've had done with all the flooding, the loss around here, this is the last thing going on around this area. Can't take much more," he said.
Police said they are beefing up patrols and working leads in the hope of keeping any more flood victims here from being victimized -- again. Homeowners saID they're studying the addition of more contract police or deputy patrols.
