Homeless man charged with attack on woman after Astros game at Minute Maid Park
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Chris Langston still bears the scar from his tussle with the man who assaulted his wife. He has several stiches along his right forearm.
"She wasn't on her cell phone," he said. "We were talking about a baseball game and never expected anything like that."
The incident happened on Tuesday, May 11, after an Astros game at Minute Maid Park.
Langston, his wife Paula, and their two children were on their way to their car when two men approached them. One, from nowhere, started hitting Paula on the head.
"I'm still in shock," she told ABC13. "I keep wondering what if? What if he would have had a knife in his hand instead of his fist? What if they would have went after my kids instead of me?"
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Chris then chased the man down and a fight ensued. The Houston Police Department intervened and arrested 23-year-old Glenn Milburn.
Milburn is charged with aggravated assault with bodily injury, and though he's already out on bond, Eyewitness News learned he was sentenced to 90 days for the same crime in December. Plus, in 2019, he was sentenced to six months for aggravated assault and a terroristic threat.
HPD does not recommend chasing an attacker, but does have advice about staying safe.
"It's more important to be aware of your surroundings," said HPD Officer Rafael Pantoja. "The only thing you should have in your hands are your keys."
According to the arrest report, Milburn is homeless. He is one of 4,000 people experiencing homelessness in the Houston area.
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Tent communities are prevalent in the city, especially downtown near Minute Maid Park. The Houston Coalition for the Homeless (HCFTH) is horrified by what happened, but they say while the homeless population is increasing in other cities, in Houston, it's actually shrinking thanks to governmental and nonprofit intervention.
They say the key to preventing violence against or perpetrated by homeless people is intervention and housing.
"We know that once people, 80% of those people, now it's up to 90%, stay in that housing, which means they don't end up back on the streets and it means they don't end up in jail," said HCFTH CEO Mike Nichols.
Meanwhile, the Langstons hope their experience serves as a warning to others.
"If it happened to me, it could happen to anyone," said Paula.
