Thread: Houston executive offers $5,000 reward in robbery case

May 28, 2008, 10:24PM
Houston executive offers $5,000 reward in robbery case


By KEVIN MORAN
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle

A southwest Houston business owner shot twice by two men who robbed him of $45,000 in cash is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest, Houston police said.

The owner was paying employees of his construction company on May 10 when two men entered the business and demanded the money, HPD robbery investigator officer Art Mejia said Wednesday.

The 36-year-old owner of Stone Brick Home and Corporation declined comment and he and police withheld his name because they said he fears being attacked again.

The man has recovered from his wounds, Mejia said.

Salvadoran employees who were present when the robbery occurred pegged the two armed men as Salvadorans because of their accents, Mejia said.

The business owner pays some of his approximately 100 employees with cash, Mejia said. He had returned to the business in the 15100 block of South Post Oak from a bank with the $45,000 in cash just before the robbery occurred, Mejia said.

When the man did not hand over the money quickly enough, one of the robbers fired, hitting the businessman once in the hand and once in the groin area with bullets from a .38-caliber semiautomatic pistol, Mejia said.

Mejia said HPD is not investigating whether the employees the businessman pays in cash are legally employed by the company.

The investigator said someone who may have worked for the business and knew of the cash payments may have helped set up the robbery.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the HPD robbery division at 713-308-0700 or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.


kevin.moran@chron.com

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/hea ... 05969.html

WHY IS THIS GUY PAYING HIS EMPLOYEES IN CASH? OF COURSE HE IS NOT TAKING TAX OUT OF THEIR PAY SO THEY ARE WORKING UNDER THE TABLE. IF THEY WERE LEGAL IMMIGRANTS I AM SURE HE WOULD NOT BE PAYING THEM IN CASH.

Stupid is, as stupid does.

Armed Robbery. Nice job.

I want the Houston Police Department to confirm if the owner's employees were illgal aliens.

I also expect the Houston Chronicle to report the story accurately and tell the public, if the employees were illegal aliens. That's being responsible and open to the public.

Dixie