HOUSTON — A man accused of pulling a gun on a CenterPoint crew working to restore power after Hurricane Beryl was back in court Tuesday morning.
Anthony Aloric Leonard, 38, is charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Houston police said he threatened the crew at gunpoint Saturday morning at a substation on Wilcrest Drive at Briar Forest Drive. No one was hurt and no shots were fired.
"This is supposed to be a message to our criminals out there in the community that you will go to jail you will spend time and you will face the anger of Texas juries and judges in sentencing you if you commit a crime during a disaster especially one that involves violence or looting," Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said.
She said punishment ranges are tougher for crimes during and after a natural disaster.
REALTED: Full Beryl coverage
CenterPoint crews, linemen from other areas threatened
There have been several other incidents where linemen were threatened or harassed, according to law enforcement. The actions prompted city leaders and law enforcement to warn that threats and other crimes will not be tolerated.
- A man was arrested and charged with misdemeanor deadly conduct after Needleton police said he threatened a lineman working to restore power in Fort Bend County.
- Harris County Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia said linemen at one camp were forced to relocate after being threatened with a drive-by shooting. He said others have been subject to individual threats of violence. "All that does is make it harder and longer to get your lights back on," Garcia said.
- Ed Allen with IBEW Local 66 said a crew out in Sugar Land told him a man across the street holding an AK-47 was "menacing" them. "We've had guys have guns pulled on them, we've had guys had rocks picked up and slung at them, we've had people brandishing AK-47s and it needs to stop," Allen said. "Please God, stop harassing these people."
- Allen said a crew from Kansas working in Kingwood was trying to eat lunch when people pulled up, yelling at them, calling them lazy and saying they didn't deserve to eat. He said several companies said that if the harassment doesn't stop, they're going to "get in their trucks and drive off."
- A Baytown woman is also accused of making terroristic threats against CenterPoint's CEO.
Houston police's acting chief Larry Satterwhite said a crew staged at Houston ISD's Barnett Stadium had to move their operation because of constant threats.
"It's devastating first and foremost because you're threatening men and women that are out there just trying to make a difference in our community," Satterwhite said. "That slows down everything and that meant more people were going to be without power even longer because of the distance they're going to have to travel just to get back," he said.
HPD has had one confirmed break-in to a CenterPoint vehicle, according to the chief.
Houston Mayor John Whitmire said people have the right to be frustrated, but not to the point of violence.
"To Houstonians, anyone that can hear my voice, these linemen are our friends," Whitmire said. "Quit threatening violence."
CenterPoint has come under scrutiny for its response to the Category 1 hurricane that left more than 2.2 million customers without power in the Houston area. By Tuesday afternoon, the number of customers who still didn't have power was just over 98,000, according to CenterPoint's outage tracker.