HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — A man accused of going on an alleged hammer-wielding rampage in west Houston ended his probable cause hearing by threatening the hearing officer.
Hearing officer Lisa Porter had just set Mauricio Barboza’s bonds at a combined $75,000 on criminal mischief and aggravated assault charges on Friday morning when he made the threat.
As Barboza is exiting the courtroom, he appears to flash a sign with his hands and breaks into a bizarre dance.
When Porter addresses him, he hurls the b-word at her and shouts, “I will have your head,” followed by more words which Eyewitness News couldn’t completely make out.
Barboza had to be wrestled out of the courtroom by a bailiff as he continued shouting.
He’s accused of brandishing a hammer at multiple people on Thursday while making death threats.
Police say they were first called to a location on Westheimer near Shadowbriar just before 5 p.m. for reports of a man screaming and wielding a hammer, but say he was gone by the time officers got there.
Officers say they were later told Barboza had confronted a day care worker while she was taking out the trash.
According to court records, Barboza raised his hammer and told the woman he would kill her if she came any closer.
Tara Woods said she’s seen Barboza before and that he frequently sleeps by the dumpster behind the daycare.
“That’s his little house right there, his little makeshift house,” Woods said.
About an hour after the call to the daycare, police say they got another call to the Lowe’s on Westheimer at Kirkwood, less than a mile away.
Lowe’s employees told police Barboza had caused $10,000 worth of damage by using his hammer to smash the solar panels on a mobile security camera in the parking lot.
When a loss prevention officer confronted him, he allegedly charged at the officer with a hammer and a knife and told him, “I’m going to kill you.”
He once again left before police arrived. Police say they finally found him at the scene of the original crime behind the daycare.
“He comes running down the street. The police were right behind him. They chasing, they chasing, they chasing, they chasing. And a lady cop said, ‘Stop, stop, stop!'” Woods said.
Woods said Barboza even tried jumping a fence to avoid capture, but that he was ultimately taken into custody when officers deployed a Taser.
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