Police save elderly couple during home invasion

Sgt. Glenn Slaven is a 17-year veteran with the Baytown Police Department.

“It was a Sunday night when I got this home invasion in progress call. Most calls like that wind up being an ex-husband breaking into a house or something. But when I show up, officer (Willie) Nelson’s eyes are like saucers. He tells me the dude is in the house, he’s wearing a mask and has a gun. I wish I could say I had something profound to say, but I just grabbed at Willie’s belt and said, ‘Let’s go,’ and we made our way into the garage.

“The elderly woman homeowner comes out first, but she doesn’t see us. Then here comes the bad guy, and he’s telling her to shut the garage door so he can put her husband in the trunk of their car.

“He was going to make them drive to an ATM and draw out all their money. Then, I assume, he was going to kill them. So I’m thinking that whatever we have to do, this car is not going to leave this garage with these two people in it. 

“I remember to this day that when the garage door shut, it was like a big stone closing in front of a tomb. It was foreboding. I was thinking, there’s not going to be a good ending to this. Here we are, police in a garage, there’s two hostages and a guy with a gun and a mask. Scenes like this typically don’t end well.

“When I yelled at him to show me his hands, he was surprised. He didn’t know we were there. Not until it was too late. We had the drop on him. I had my gun pointed at him and he decided to raise his gun. So Willie and I gave him the business, and we’re here today and he’s not. 

“I later learned that the couple had talked the guy into praying with them before he took them out into the garage. That actually gave us enough time to get there and stop him. So God works in mysterious ways, I guess. Had they not prayed, we probably would have been too late.”

— Sgt. Glenn Slaven