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The is a little different than usual scenario. Apparently four men stole a minivan and the vehicle stalled as they were driving. They the took another car and shot the vehicle's owner in the stomach.


A woman was shot during a crime spree Friday evening in southwest Houston.

According to police, four suspects stole a purple minivan from Corporate Drive around 9:30 p.m., but the battery died at the intersection of Westpark and Wilcrest.

They found a woman in another car, attacked her, and shot her in the stomach. The victim was transported to the hospital and expected to be OK.

The four suspects are on the loose. Contact authorities if you have any information regarding this case


http://www.khou.com/news/local/Woman-sh ... 79381.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

WildBill wrote:According to police, four suspects stole a purple minivan from Corporate Drive around 9:30 p.m., but the battery died at the intersection of Westpark and Wilcrest.

I wonder what crimes they committed immediately before that. Usually you don't need four guys with guns to steal a minivan.

Prayers for the woman these thugs shot.

gringo pistolero wrote:

WildBill wrote:According to police, four suspects stole a purple minivan from Corporate Drive around 9:30 p.m., but the battery died at the intersection of Westpark and Wilcrest.

I wonder what crimes they committed immediately before that. Usually you don't need four guys with guns to steal a minivan.

Prayers for the woman these thugs shot.

Maybe a more serious or violent crime, but one never can be sure. The thoughts and decision making processes of most criminals are not logical.

It's scary in Houston! I hate that I have a lot of family there and have to worry about some that don't have CHL's.

I'm glad to hear this lady will pull through.

So how is Houston stacking up to the Dallas area in violent crime these days? It seems not too well.

It seems to me that the majority of posts here about Texas crime comes from the Houston area. I could be mistaken, but it's my perception.

Redneck_Buddha wrote:So how is Houston stacking up to the Dallas area in violent crime these days? It seems not too well.

The Houston area has a much larger and more diverse population than the DFW area. I would expect there to be more crime of all types in the Houston area. When I visit Houston, I feel like a country bumpkin visiting the big city...LOL. I reside in Plano and traverse the DFW area on a regular basis. Houston feels more crowded to me. Maybe it is an illusion but I don't think so.

It is probably more reasonable to do a per capita count when talking crime in Houston vs Dallas. For that matter, per capita numbers are the only accurate method when comparing crime in any city vs another.

I do an excellent job of avoiding Houston and a pretty good job of avoiding Dallas. For a number of years I had offices in both New Orleans and Houston. During part of that time New Orleans lead the nation in murder statistics. I still felt much safer in New Orleans than I ever felt in Houston.

CHLLady wrote:It seems to me that the majority of posts here about Texas crime comes from the Houston area. I could be mistaken, but it's my perception.

It could be because I usually post crimes from the Houston area.

I don't really know much about Dallas, but there seems to be a shooting or killing every day in the Houston area.

Just looked it up last year Houston had 201 murders, Dallas 137.

CHLLady wrote:It seems to me that the majority of posts here about Texas crime comes from the Houston area. I could be mistaken, but it's my perception.

From FBI Uniform Crime Report 2011, Table 6 by Metropolitan Statistical Area:

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/cr ... es/table-6" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

These are crime rates per 100,000 people:

Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX M.S.A. (population 6,505,848)

Violent crime 358.4
Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter 4.5
Forcible rape 26.9
Robbery 124.3
Aggravated assault 202.6
Property crime 3,498.5
Burglary 922.8
Larceny-theft 2,280.5
Motor vehicle theft 295.3


Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX M.S.A.1 (population 6,071,933)

Violent crime 550.8
Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter 5.4
Forcible rape 26.8
Robbery 189.9
Aggravated assault 328.7
Property crime 3,576.9
Burglary 900.8
Larceny-theft 2,336.7
Motor vehicle theft 339.4

City of Dallas (population 1,223,021)

Violent crime 681.1
Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter 10.9
Forcible rape 35.0
Robbery 332.5
Aggravated assault 302.8
Property crime 5,057.9
Burglary 1,531.2
Larceny-theft 2,873.9
Motor vehicle theft 652.8

City of Houston (population 2,143,628)

Violent crime 974.6
Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter 9.2
Forcible rape 36.0
Robbery 375.7
Aggravated assault 553.7
Property crime 5,053.9
Burglary 1,281.0
Larceny-theft 3,200.0
Motor vehicle theft 572.9

Interesting to compare the Dallas and Houston MSA to the actual City of Dallas and City of Houston numbers.
For example, the Houston MSA violent crime rate is 54% higher than Dallas MSA. However, the big difference is in robbery (53%) and aggravated assaults (62%). Murder is slightly higher (20%) and rapes are even.

Houston MSA compared to Dallas MSA as a percentage. For example violent crime is (550.8/358.4 - 1).
Violent crime 54%
Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter 20%
Forcible rape 0%
Robbery 53%
Aggravated assault 62%
Property crime 2%
Burglary -2%
Larceny-theft 2%
Motor vehicle theft 15%

Comparing City of Houston to City of Dallas, the Houston violent crime rate is 43% higher, but the actual murder rate is 15% lower. Here, the big difference is in aggravated assaults (82%).

Violent crime 43%
Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter -15%
Forcible rape 3%
Robbery 13%
Aggravated assault 83%
Property crime 0%
Burglary -16%
Larceny-theft 11%
Motor vehicle theft -12%

Property crime is equivalent between the two areas, with burglaries and motor vehicle theft lower in Houston, but larceny/theft is higher.

Houston repeatedly sounds like the arm pit of test and resembles places I worked in SO CA. I am hesitant to ever move there, although we are consider it.

texanjoker wrote:Houston repeatedly sounds like the arm pit of test and resembles places I worked in SO CA. I am hesitant to ever move there, although we are consider it.

Like any big city Houston has both good and bad areas. There are also many surrounding cities that sometimes get lumped into being part of Houston. I live in a nice area and work in a poor area.

That is some good stuff Jumpingfrog. Thanks for looking that up. I find the per capita numbers when comparing the city of Houston to the city of Dallas interesting. I hate that my son likes living in the middle of Houston. I think it is some kind of yuppie type thing.

Strange how the per capita numbers change some if one includes the surrounding areas in the comparisons.

One thought I just had. Is it possible that some of the crimes can be prosecuted under different charges, even though the crimes are similar? This would cause the numbers to be different simply because a prosecutor in Dallas may prefer to bring charges under one category while a prosecutor in Houston may prefer a different route. Maybe some of it has to do with plea bargains as well. Plea bargains typically offer a lesser offense if one pleads guilty.