Action 13: Complex offers to break woman's lease after bats in her apartment: 'I was terrified'

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) -- Action 13 is getting you results. An east Harris County woman thought a crash in the night was someone breaking in. When police showed up, they found an unwelcome guest, but it wasn't an intruder.

Dericka Lewis said it started about two weeks ago when she was woken in the middle of the night to sounds in her apartment.

"I called the police because I thought it was an intruder," Lewis said.

She said police arrived at her unit at the City Crossing apartment complex to find that the intruder was two bats. She and the police laughed off the first bats, but as the weeks dragged on, it became less funny.

"Days later, I had another incident with bats, and I got mu neighbor's boyfriend to come out and get the bats for me," Lewis said.

Realizing she had a bigger issue, Lewis said she contacted the leasing office, which sent out an exterminator, but bats kept coming in. She blocked off her fireplace, but that didn't stop the winged pests either.

"Yes, I was terrified," Lewis said.

Lewis said she reached out to the leasing office again and corporate, but she says she was told they can do nothing until the exterminator tells them when he'll be back.

"That's not a good enough response because I keep seeing bats reoccurring in my unit," Lewis said.

Finally, Lewis was fed up and called ABC13. Just hours after we spoke to the leasing office, Lewis said she got a call offering her a new unit or to break her lease. She's still deciding which route she wants to take and expressed her frustration that it took us getting involved for the offer to happen.

Because bats can carry rabies, Lewis has decided to get a series of rabies vaccinations. At this point, Lewis has not been led to believe the bats have rabies, but she said she's not taking any chances.

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