Houston crime: Payday Friday with no pay for 6 landscapers' following armed jugging in upscale neighborhood

HOUSTON - "Anything could have happened, and I didn't want to lose my life," said one landscaper who asked not to be identified, so we will call him Mike.

He has five guys who work with him and Friday, June 30, was payday.

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"I went ahead and went to the bank while my guys were working here," Mike said. 

Mike didn't know it at the time, but a black Jaguar followed him from the bank at Kirby and Bissonnet back to his job site in the 3700 of Purdue.

"This masked person tried to get into my truck, and took my money. I started wrestling with him," he said. 

The masked person pulled a gun on him.

"It was paycheck for the guys," said Mike. "I was like one way or another, I need to try and get that money, because there was no way to recover that money."

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The five guys working nearby went after the robber.

"They approached him with a hoe, and started hitting him, and he ended up running a different way," Mike said.

The robber left the running Jaguar behind, so Mike jumped in.

"I got into his car, and I was going to pursue him in his own car," he said. "But I wasn't able to, because I didn't know how to maneuver that car. It was a really nice newer model."

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The robber returned in a second getaway car as he was after his Jaquar and his phone. Once again, he pulled a gun on Mike but didn't fire.

"Thank God for that," he said.

Mike says it's been hard to recover from the money he lost. He's married with kids and the family's sole provider.

"I have to keep working. I have to keep doing what I do, because it's the only thing I know how to do," Mike said.

If you know anything about this crime, call HPD's Robbery Division or Crime Stoppers at (713) 222-TIPS.