Humble ISD police admit fault in runaway teen case after telling a stranger to take girl and drive

HUMBLE, Texas (KTRK) -- No explanation will be good enough, according to the mother of a Humble ISD student who said the district's personal police department refused to help her on Tuesday.

Derranisha Taylor said she and her 14-year-old daughter got into a fight at about 6 a.m. on Tuesday before the girl went off to Humble High School.

According to Taylor, her daughter left the apartment home at about 6:30 a.m., and she believed her teen was headed to the bus.

A Good Samaritan passing in her car said she saw Taylor's daughter visibly upset and stopped her. The two did not know each other.

The teen got in her car and told her what happened with her mother that morning.

The Good Samaritan said she called the Humble ISD Police Department and was told to drive the girl to Humble High School and an officer would meet her there.

Upon arriving, an officer reportedly called her back and told her to return the girl to where she found her and call 911 from there.

"She should never have left with a stranger," Taylor said.

Instead, the Good Samaritan took her to a nearby Harris County Sheriff's Office substation, where she was reunited with her mother.

Taylor is frustrated that the Humble ISD Police Department did not respond and allowed her daughter to remain with a woman she did not know.

"I'm just grateful that it was a Good Samaritan and it wasn't a sick person who took advantage of the police not taking it (seriously)," Taylor said.

She questioned why Humble ISD police did not do more in the situation.

"Is this what we pay our taxpayer dollars for?" Taylor asked. "I'm not understanding it. It's not a thing of color because these were officers who were my color."

Taylor said she called the district Wednesday morning but did not hear back. The day before, she told the district's police department that she planned to take legal action.

A spokesperson for Humble ISD said in a statement that what occurred on Tuesday should not have happened.

"The Humble ISD Police Department is investigating what occurred and will take appropriate corrective action if procedures were not followed," the statement reads.

They followed by saying their protocol is to dispatch an officer to those who call in and request assistance.

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