HOUSTON, TX— Reports from Texas have indicated that a Houston man, Lee Carter, 52, was arrested and charged with aggravated kidnapping this week after a woman informed authorities that he had kidnapped her and held her locked in his garage for four to five years.
According to The Houston Star-Telegram, Police were contacted in April 2023 by a woman who texted 911 and told dispatchers that she was being held against her will as reported by KPRC. The police responded to the home of Carter and located her in the garage where she told them she was being held.
Houston Police Commander Michael Collins told KTRK, "It makes me sick as a human being."
The woman alleged that she was pregnant and panhandling when she met the suspect approximately four to five years ago. He reportedly pulled up to her on the street to give her money and asked if she needed help, court documents said. She told police that in light of her vulnerable state, she chose to get in his car. He then allegedly took her to his home and locked her in the garage.
When investigators responded to the home and entered the garage, they found squalid conditions: a broken toilet, a dirty mattress, food, clothes, and diapers, court documents revealed. The woman told police that Carter had raped and drugged her for years, KTRK reported.
Police reportedly visited the home eight times over the last year and the woman was hospitalized multiple times only to be picked up by Carter.
A neighbor, Jedediah Beights, said, "At one point, maybe a year ago now, the cops come banging on my door claiming somebody had called from inside the house and was kidnapped or not able to leave on her own. Right then, as the cops are standing at my door, a gal comes crawling out that window just there, just clawing her way out, pregnant, eight months."
Carter wasn't arrested that day in April. Collins told reporters that the suspect wasn't home at the time when police arrived and couldn't comment on why it took over seven months to track him down. He was located on January 4 at a motel where he was arrested.
He is being held on $100,000 bail and is ordered not to have contact with the woman.
Houston PD has been unable to locate the woman or the child since the April incident. On January 5 they entered his home under exigent circumstances after receiving a tip that she had returned to the house.
According to The Houston Star-Telegram, Police were contacted in April 2023 by a woman who texted 911 and told dispatchers that she was being held against her will as reported by KPRC. The police responded to the home of Carter and located her in the garage where she told them she was being held.
Houston Police Commander Michael Collins told KTRK, "It makes me sick as a human being."
The woman alleged that she was pregnant and panhandling when she met the suspect approximately four to five years ago. He reportedly pulled up to her on the street to give her money and asked if she needed help, court documents said. She told police that in light of her vulnerable state, she chose to get in his car. He then allegedly took her to his home and locked her in the garage.
When investigators responded to the home and entered the garage, they found squalid conditions: a broken toilet, a dirty mattress, food, clothes, and diapers, court documents revealed. The woman told police that Carter had raped and drugged her for years, KTRK reported.
Police reportedly visited the home eight times over the last year and the woman was hospitalized multiple times only to be picked up by Carter.
A neighbor, Jedediah Beights, said, "At one point, maybe a year ago now, the cops come banging on my door claiming somebody had called from inside the house and was kidnapped or not able to leave on her own. Right then, as the cops are standing at my door, a gal comes crawling out that window just there, just clawing her way out, pregnant, eight months."
Carter wasn't arrested that day in April. Collins told reporters that the suspect wasn't home at the time when police arrived and couldn't comment on why it took over seven months to track him down. He was located on January 4 at a motel where he was arrested.
He is being held on $100,000 bail and is ordered not to have contact with the woman.
Houston PD has been unable to locate the woman or the child since the April incident. On January 5 they entered his home under exigent circumstances after receiving a tip that she had returned to the house.
“Due to the very serious nature of the warrant and aggravated kidnapping, we had exigent circumstances to make entry,” Collins told KPRC. “We would not have entered a residence without a warrant unless we had serious concerns about somebody’s safety. And again, due to that, the nature and the severity of the allegations in that incident report and the complainant’s statement, [we made entry.]"
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