Senior citizens say they are being terrorized by criminals in their neighborhood

HOUSTON - Some senior citizens in northeast Houston say they don’t feel safe in their own homes.

They live in a senior living apartment complex on North Wayside at the Hometowne On Wayside Senior apartment community. Residents I spoke with say crime has gotten way out of control.

"It’s a safety problem over here. Anybody can get hurt. These are senior citizens," says 75-year-old Earl Davis, who is a resident.

One senior after another at the Hometowne On Wayside Senior Living Apartments has one horror story after another.

"There have been a number of concerns. Coming out and find your car stolen, like mine," says resident 74-year-old Wilbert Porter Jr.

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"People come through here twisting on the doorknobs to see if your door is open, so they can come in on you. (That’s pretty scary.) It is. Last Thursday I was backing out, and the car just fell on the ground. They had taken all the lugs out. They were trying to get the wheels I guess," Davis adds.

"Last month my car got broken into. They broke my back window. I had to pay $240 to get it fixed," says 64-year-old Mary Mouton. Mouton says just a few days ago she was in her apartment when someone banged on her door. The young man was ducking, as you can see in her home surveillance video, and he would have been too low to be seen through a peephole. But she could see three men outside her door thanks to her doorbell camera, and she didn’t open it.

"What do you have to stay captive in your home all the time? I’m frightened in my own home," Mouton says.

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The Houston Police Department has had more than a dozen calls to the complex since January for everything from reports of guys with a gun. "The guys come running from that way, down this way, talking about ‘hey ma’am’, pointing a gun at us," says a woman who didn’t want to reveal her identity.

There was also an assault reported at the complex, and "auto thefts, burglary of motor vehicles as well as burglaries of apartments," explains Officer Kenneth Miles with the Houston Police Department. The complex is private property, but HPD Northeast Division officers are trying to set up a safety meeting with apartment management.

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"We were just in the office trying to lock that down. I have family members that are seniors and if they were in this predicament I would want the best possible help from the police department as well as (apartment) management," says Officer Miles. So what is apartment management planning to do?

Residents want cameras installed around the property and 24-hour security. I was told a supervisor with the apartment community would call me back. I haven’t heard from anyone as of when this report was published.