‘Evil’ armed robbers torture, hold little boy under hot water to get money out of dad: Police

Police in Texas are asking for the public’s help in identifying and locating three suspects who reportedly broke into a Fort Bend home and held a mother, father, and their two young children hostage early Monday morning.

KHOU reported that three masked assailants forced their way into the Richmond home and held the family members against their will for 40 minutes as they ransacked the property looking for money and jewelry. Police said a fourth suspect acted as a getaway driver.

According to The Washington Post, the suspects attacked the father after he failed to give them money he didn’t have. They then set their sights on the 7-year-old son in hopes of getting money out of the father.

Fort Bend County Sheriff Troy Nehls said a recording from inside the home caught the family members’ screams. At one point, the little boy’s screams become muffled. Nehls said the father is heard offering the suspects their jewelry but maintaining they had no money.

“You can hear the boy screaming, and then you can hear them when they’re filling up that bathtub with water,” Nehls said at a news conference.

The boy was hospitalized for fluids in his lungs but is expected to survive, KHOU reported.

According to The Post, investigators said the father owns a small local business and noted that the suspects appeared to have been familiar with the home.

Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Detective Justin White said the robbers for some reason, believed there was a large sum of money in the home. However, White declined to speculate on what caused the men to think that.

“What amount of money would it take for any of us to torture a 7-year-old kid? No amount of money,” White said at a Tuesday news conference shot by KPRC.

“But, you know, here they are doing it. For what? A couple of thousand dollars they think they may have at the house or something like that? To me, that’s just evil.”

Though the suspect’s faces were concealed, police said one of them was wearing a vintage Air Jordan hooded sweatshirt with “Jordan” spelled out in white on the sleeves. Another suspect caught on tape wore red sneakers which police believe are Jordan basketball sneakers.

CrimeStoppers has increased their reward to $25,000 for information that leads to an arrest in this case.

This is an ongoing investigation. Anyone with information regarding the robbery can call Fort Bend County Crime Stoppers at 281-342-8477, text Fort Bend police your tip to 274637, or submit a tip online at www.fortbend.crimestoppersweb.com.

[Featured image: Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office]