Family recovering after terrifying home invasion in Sugar Land

SUGAR LAND, TX (KTRK) -- A Sugar Land family is recovering after surviving a terrifying night being attacked by a group of violent burglars. Four men stormed the family's home on Baldwin Crossing near Mayfair just before 10pm Monday.

Zubeda Ali, who was repeatedly pistol whipped in the head, is back home now after getting staples and stitches in the hospital. On Monday night, she and her family endured a harrowing ordeal here.

It was 9:45pm when the doorbell rang here on Baldwin Crossing. Outside was a person holding what appeared to be a box of pizza.

"My mom thought it was my cousin coming to sleep over, who comes all the time," said Ali's daughter.

She didn't want us to show her face, but she agreed to talk with us in the hopes of catching the men who burst into her mother's home when her mom cracked the door open.

"It's really important. It's really ridiculous. This is supposed to be a really nice neighborhood," she said.

The mother was home with her husband and another adult daughter. Family says the mother fought with the men as they tried to push their way in that front door, even biting their hands, but they were too strong.

Police say four men, all wearing masks of some kind, then demanded cash.

"They wanted to know where the money was located; they knew it was there," said Sugar Land police spokesperson Doug Adolph. "The homeowners wouldn't tell them where the money was, so they pistol whipped the 53-year-old female."

The woman's daughter says her family was tied up with duct tape and blindfolded. She says her sister ran into a bedroom to try and call 911 on a cell phone, but couldn't get through. Police say the thieves rummaged through the home for 30 minutes. Family says it was closer to 40. They loaded up the family's sedan with cash, TVs and jewelry and took off.

Some neighbors say they moved out of Houston to get away from this type of crime and they're having trouble realizing that it is here too.

"Honestly, I'm numb. It hasn't registered yet," said neighbor Indu Khera.

Family says the mother pretended to be unconscious until the men fled. She then was somehow able to untie herself, the rest of her family and call 9-1-1.

Police say the homeowner here operates two dry cleaning stores in Houston and may have been targeted because of the cash which small business owners usually handle. They remind small business owners to be cognizant of their surroundings. They also tell everyone never to open a door to your home if you don't know the person on the other side.

Police are still looking for the family's 2003 silver Toyota Camry which was stolen, with the license plate BZ9 Z060.

If you have seen the vehicle or have any information that can help police in this case, you are urged to call Crime Stoppers at 281-342-TIPS or Sugar Land police at 281-275-2500.

(Copyright ©2012 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.) Get more Local »

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Suspected drunk driver recovering after rollover rescue

  HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A suspected drunken driver was recovering Saturday after being rescued from a rollover in southeast Houston.

According to police, a pickup truck was eastbound on the South Loop feeder around 11pm when the driver swerved off the road for unknown reasons.

A witness told investigators it almost looked like the driver thought he was taking an entrance ramp to enter onto the freeway.

The truck drove into the trees between the freeway and feeder road, plowing down several small trees and hitting the guard rail at the top.

Authorities said the truck flipped and the driver was pinned inside. Firefighters had to cut him out of the vehicle and he was transported to Memorial Hermann Hospital. At last check, he was stable.

Police believe he may have been highly intoxicated. A blood test was performed at the hospital.

(Copyright ©2012 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)
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Restaurateur Sylvia Casares recovering after being shot by ex-boyfriend, who's been arrested

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A man who authorities say shot a well-known Houston restaurateur has been arrested in Fort Bend County.

The suspect, who investigators say had been considered armed and dangerous, was arrested by sheriff's deputies and a Texas Ranger Thursday afternoon at a Rosenberg motel. Michael Warren, 58, is charged with aggravated assault.

On Monday night, the Ft. Bend Co. Sheriff's Office says Houston restaurateur Sylvia Casares was wounded after being shot by her ex-boyfriend. Investigators say it happened at Casares' residence in Fulshear.

Years of success at Sylvia's Enchilada Kitchen earned Casares an Eyewitness News profile in 2007 and recognition from the Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

"She has worked very hard to be where she is today. And we just wish her well," said Dr. Laura Murillo with the Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Investigators say at around 9pm on March 12, an argument erupted between Casares and her ex-boyfriend, Michael Warren, at her home in the 1400 block of Foster Lake in Fulshear. She was shot at least once and taken by air ambulance to a local hospital. Warren was seen leaving her residence in a black 2004 GMC Yukon with licence plate 42M-VT1.

Casares, well known in the Houston restaurant scene, underwent surgery after the shooting.

"I think that the lesson here is that domestic violence and these types of things happen to and can happen to anyone," said Dr. Murillo.

Casares is in stable condition in a Houston hospital. She is recovering as family members run day-to-day operations of Sylvia's Enchilada Kitchen.

"We're just sorry to hear that she recently undergone this tragedy, but she has that can do spirit. We know that she'll recuperate and do just fine," Dr. Murillo said.

The manhunt stretched all the way to Lafayette, Louisiana, the suspect's hometown, but ended Thursday afternoon when Warren was arrested at the Palace Inn at Highway 59 near the intersection of FM 2218 in Rosenberg. The arrest occurred without incident.

Officials say they recovered Warren's vehicle in the parking lot of a Lafayette hospital Thursday afternoon. The suspect apparently was returned to Fort Bend County by a relative.

Warren is in the Fort Bend County Jail with a $100,000 bond.

(Copyright ©2012 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.) Get more Local »

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Firefighter recovering after battling fire at bar

A firefighter is recovering after battling a fire at the Vintage Bar on Kipling and Greenbriar, near the Montrose area

  HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A firefighter is recovering after battling a fire at the Vintage Bar on Kipling and Greenbriar, near the Montrose area.

Firefighters arrived around 4am Wednesday. The flames spread to the second story of the building. Investigators say the blaze was not related to the weather.

The bar was closed at the time.

One firefighter is recovering at a hospital from heat-related stress.

Investigators say an electrical problem likely caused the fire. But arson teams are investigating.

(Copyright ©2012 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.) Get more Local »

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Family recovering after blast in N. Harris Co. home

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A man who nearly lost his entire family in an instant is in the hospital by their side as they recover. What happened at their north Harris County home is still under investigation, but the fact that everyone survived is because of two brave women.

There were six victims in the explosion -- two adults and four children. Five of them are in hospitals from Houston to Galveston and the most critical are a mother and son.

"We were just together on Christmas," said Giovanni Regalado, father of the three-year-old boy who was burned in the fire.

Just a few days later, two sisters and their four children's lives were changed forever.

"People were just living and then boom, you know, like what happened?" he said.

An explosion rocked the house on Sunshine Bay. Regalado's three-year-old son was among the family members inside.

"You never in a thousand years expect it's going to be you. Something tragic like this, it hurts," Regalado said.

Giovanni Izaiah's mother and aunt realized he wasn't out of the home, so Michelle and Melissa went back inside to pull him out. Twenty-eight-year-old Michelle Cardenas now has burns on 75 percent of her body.

"You can't help, you are just helpless. You want to help but you can't," Regalado said.

Thursday the boy had another surgery at Shriners Burn Hospital in Galveston.

"His last operation before this one, he had some of his own skin used to cover his wounds, so he'll go through that again," Dr. Jong Lee with Shriners Hospitals for Children said. "So pretty much once a week he'll go back to surgery and we'll try to cover his wounds using his own skin."

But this one included amputating many of his fingers and toes.

"He said, 'Dada I want to go home,' but I can't do nothing. He said, 'Pick me up and carry me,' but I can't do nothing," Regalado said. said.

It's a lot for this father, who lost his maintenance job a couple of weeks ago, to bear.

"We're going to get through this, praise the Lord, we're going to get through this," Regalado said.

But it's the way his own son is fighting that is helping him the most.

"He's inspiring me, he's inspiring me to keep on," Regalado said.

The family has set up a fund account to help with Giovanni Izaiah Regalado's medical costs with Wells Fargo Bank.

(Copyright ©2012 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)
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Rescued League City family recovering in Colorado

  HOUSTON -- The Higgins family is spending Christmas at a Colorado hospital rather than being on a ski vacation, but the Texans are just thankful to be alive.

Days after being rescued from their snow-covered SUV in New Mexico, the only family member still in the hospital is Yvonne Higgins, who is expected to fully recover from the bout of pneumonia she caught while struggling to stay alive in frigid conditions for nearly two days, her husband, David Higgins said.

David Higgins was released from a New Mexico hospital on Thursday after being diagnosed with pneumonia. The couple's 5-year-old daughter, Hannah, was given a clean bill of health hours after the family was rescued at about 1:30 a.m. Wednesday. Yvonne Higgins was transferred to a hospital in Pueblo, Colo.

"We say `God bless you and thank you' to the New Mexico state troopers, the police department and the New Mexico National Guard," David Higgins said. "We were completely entombed in ice."

The family's ordeal began Monday when they left Texas for a vacation in New Mexico. Within hours, they got stuck in a large blizzard on U.S. Highway 412, just west of the Texas border, and could no longer drive. Their vehicle became buried under four feet of snow.

Due to cloud cover, the Higginses had spotty cell phone coverage -- unusual, they later found out, in the area where they were stranded. This allowed them to give responders enough clues to find their general location. Using probes, the rescuers began searching in a snowbank and after a few tries, hit the car.

"We were pretty much out of oxygen and it had started to get cold in there," David Higgins said.

Now, the family is together in Colorado, with Higgins' parents, Jim and Betty Higgins, who have come to spend Christmas with them.

Santa, though, won't be visiting until they return home to League City, Texas, a town about 25 miles southeast of Houston.

"We've already explained to Hannah that Santa understands the situation," David Higgins said. "When we get home, we'll have our big Christmas."

(Copyright ©2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) Get more Local »

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