HOUSTON (KHOU) – A Houston middle school teacher is being called a hero after saving a 15-year-old girl from sexual assault by confronting and chasing away the attacker.
Harris County Sheriff’s investigators say the incident happened just before midnight last Sunday on Houston’s east side. Dramatic video shows David Garza, a middle school teacher, running from his apartment and screaming for action after hearing a young girl scream for help.
“I looked out the window and saw a man beating a woman who was on the ground. He was trying to take off her clothes,” Garza said.
He says he didn’t hesitate to get his gun and confront the attacker.
“I ran up the stairs and grabbed my gun. Then I came outside and asked what was going on. The girl screamed, ‘I’m 15. Help me.’ So I pointed my gun at him,” Garza said.
Garza says the suspect grabbed the victim by her hair.
“He immediately took his hands away. He chased her, so I chased him. She escaped. She went to the apartment of someone she knew,” he said.
A neighbor says she believes Garza saved the teen from tragedy. She says she saw the incident from her window.
“At first I was scared because I literally thought she was going to be raped. I think if he hadn’t come out, she probably would have been raped,” she said.
Investigators say the 15-year-old victim was on the bus with the suspect. When she got off, he followed her across the street and into an apartment complex, where he attacked her. A neighbor who knows the teen says she was on her way to visit a friend.
The investigators are now searching for the suspect.
While Garza is being hailed as a hero, the teacher himself says he simply did the right thing. He also says it was not the first time he had pursued a man who wanted to harm a child.
“I was scared too. I’m not going to lie, but she needed more help than I feared, so I had to do it,” he said.
Andy Kahan, a victim advocate with Crime Stoppers, says he is grateful for Garza’s quick thinking and action.
“I take my hat off to you,” he said.
He adds that the suspect must be caught before he potentially attacks someone else.
“If you’re willing to do this where everyone is and people can actually see what you’re doing, then I’m like, A. Is this your first time? B. We need to get you off the streets before you hurt young girls again,” Kahan said.
Investigators have released a photo of the suspect. At the time of the attack, he was wearing a black hoodie with a white Reebok logo, blue jeans and white tennis shoes. Anyone with information on his identity or whereabouts is asked to call Crime Stoppers.
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