Pregnant woman fights off man who allegedly tried to rob her
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- What began as a normal day at the washateria turned into a pregnant woman's battle to fight off a mugger.
While covering a robbery at the auto parts store on Jensen near Tidwell, Eyewitness news reporter Christine Dobbyn and photographer Francisco Barragan came across a quick chase for a suspect in another robbery just around the corner.
Houston police say five masked men robbed an Advance Auto Parts store and pistol-whipped an employee during the crime.
RELATED: Masked suspects pistol-whip man during robbery in northeast Houston
About an hour later as the ABC13 crew covered that story, a speeding truck followed by several police cars on Jensen caught their eye.
The husband of a woman robbed just down the street believed he spotted the suspect and was chasing him with his cousin. He motioned police and they began chasing him too.
Mario Martinez says he saw the man matching the description and began chasing him. He says his wife, who is pregnant, was attacked just outside a washateria around the corner from the auto parts store.
Martinez said, "We saw him and he was coming out of the wooded area jumping the street and the cop was passing by and I honked my horn and flagged him down. He turned around and jumped the gate. I knew it was him."
Yulissa Cantu says she had just gotten some detergent and was going into the washateria when a man approached her, punched her and tried taking her phone and purse. She says she's 17 weeks pregnant and says she started screaming and was determined to defend herself.
"Trying to protect me and the baby. I would have let him grab the phone and we could track it but my first instinct was to protect myself, so I went like this and fell to the ground. Your instincts just kick in," said Cantu.
Her husband says he was doing what anyone would do. But his brave, quick thinking led to a fast arrest.
"Good thing the cops got him before we did, no telling what would happen," said Martinez.
Police have given no indication that the two robberies are related. Five men are still wanted in connection to the auto parts store robbery.
