Two phony DoorDash drivers allegedly zip-tied a Houston mother in front of her terrified young children during a brazen home invasion – then shot an officer in the leg when police came to the rescue, authorities said.
The frightening ordeal began Tuesday morning when two men wearing surgical masks and carrying a red DoorDash bag knocked on the front door of the family home, the woman’s father said.
When the mom, identified only as Nicole, answered the door to tell them they had the wrong address, the brutes barged through the door and ransacked the house, the dad explained.
“As soon as she opened the door, he pulled a gun out of a DoorDash bag and he forced entry,” the homeowner and father Ben Bates told KHOU.
“They zip-tied my daughter, and she had her 1-year-old and 3-year-old, they proceeded to ransack the house,” Bates continued.
“They didn’t do anything with the kids but they did have her walking them through the rooms trying to find stuff to take.”
A neighbor witnessed the crime and called the police, with two cops quickly rushing to the scene.
The officers found the mother and one child in the living room with the suspects still inside the home.
As one of the alleged perps, identified as Michael Perez, was being arrested, the second suspect emerged from a bedroom and shot at police, hitting Officer S. Durfee in the leg, Houston police chief J. Noe Diaz said during a press conference Tuesday.
Durfee, a 9-year veteran of the department, was able to shoot at the second suspect but did not hit him.
The alleged shooter, identified as Raymond Perez, then fled from the house before he was arrested a block from the house, police said.
A third suspect, identified as Brian Garcia Chavez, was captured about six hours later after he drove away from the home, police said.
Raymond Perez is facing charges of aggravated assault against a public servant, aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon and unlawful carrying of a weapon, Houston police said.
Michael Perez, 38, and Chavez, 18, were charged with aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon.
Though the suspects are all in custody, the victimized family is left shaken.
“I’ve never experienced anything like this in my lifetime,” Bates, the woman’s father, told KPRC.
“But I can’t imagine what my daughter is going through right now.”
