'Mama Bear mode': Mom goes after robber who held up 2 girls at bus stop
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Quick thinking from two 16-year-old robbery victims and one of their moms helped deputies track down a gun-wielding suspect.
The robbery led to a chase that ended on the Hardy Toll Road and Canino.
The suspect pointed a gun at the two Sam Houston High School students as they headed to a bus stop.
He took one of their backpacks. One girl ran to a friend's house. The other started running home.
Her mother spotted her running down the street. She quickly realized something wasn't right
"I was waving at her. I told her they just stole my stuff," said one of the teens who asked not to be identified out of safety concerns. "I pointed at the van. She (the mom) went after them."
The mom then drove around the area and spotted the suspect's van. She told ABC13 her younger daughter snapped a photo. The mother then stopped her pursuit, called the Harris County Sheriff's Office, and provided deputies with the information.
"Why did they do that to kids?" said the mother, who also wished to remain anonymous. "It made me mad."
Just 20 minutes later, deputies spotted the van and the chase was on.
Transtar cameras caught the suspect as he drove across the north side.
Deputies chased him from the other side of US-59 all the way across the north side to the Hardy Toll Road.
Deputies put down several spike strips, but the suspect managed to drive around most of them.
Eventually, his luck ran out and he ran over the strips, blowing out a front tire. Not long after that, the van came to a stop and he was taken into custody.
Deputies say the mom was key to getting the suspect off the streets.
"The mom, when I talked to her, she was just as mad as could be and she went into mama bear mode," said Lt. Jeff Stauber, of the Harris County Sheriff's Office.
Deputies found the girl's backpack in the van and returned it to her.
