HOUSTON — A community is upset after a judge lowered a suspect’s bond.
Joseph Harrell, 17, is accused of seriously hurting a woman when he picked her up and slammed her to the ground in an attack that was caught on camera.
Harrell is still in jail, charged with aggravated robbery with serious bodily injury, but a week ago, a judge cut his bond from $200,000 to $100,000.
“You always worry," said Hai Bui with We the People Organize. "Today, I asked a couple of my Vietnamese friends and family to come out. They’re scared. They said, 'Hai, we're afraid of retaliation.'”
A woman – 19-year-old Zy’Nika Woods – has also been charged with aggravated robbery in this case.
Police believe they followed the woman for more than 20 miles after she took money out at a bank.
What happened
The day before Valentine's Day, Nhung Truong went to a Bank of America to get some cash for a trip she was planning on taking. After leaving the bank, she made her way to a shopping center on Bellaire Boulevard just inside Beltway 8 where she was allegedly followed by Harrell and Woods.
HPD detective Tyruls Fontenot said Truong was walking in front of the shopping center when Harrell got out of a car that Woods was driving and tussled with Troung for her purse.
After all of her belongings fell to the ground, Fontenot said Harrell picked up what he thought was the money and started running away. When he realized he didn't have the money, he went back to Troung, picked her up and slammed her to the ground, according to HPD.
He then picked up the envelope with the money and ran back to the getaway car that Woods was driving, Fontenot said.
The entire incident was caught on a surveillance camera.
"In fact when I saw it, it just made me mad as hell," Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said.
Troung suffered serious injuries from the body slam. Fontenot said she was even unconscious for a while before being taken to the hospital.
Fontenot said the minute the Houston Police Department was notified about what happened, detectives started investigating. Detectives were able to find surveillance video, which Fontenot said was key to solving this crime.
What led to the arrests
With the help of surveillance cameras, police said they were able to get the license plate of Harrell and Woods' vehicle and later learned Woods was the driver.
Fontenot said she matched the description of the woman seen in the surveillance videos.
She was eventually detained for a traffic violation and interviewed by investigators. Fontenot said she confessed to taking part in the robbery and confessed to Harrell being involved as well.
After confirming Harrell was the other person involved in the robbery, investigators said they arrested him for a warrant on a separate aggravated assault case. He was interviewed and also confessed to taking part in the robbery, Fontenot said.