A white suburban — speeding out of control during a chase triggered by a paintball confrontation — careened through the center of the brick home, shoving the couple and the couch they were sitting on through the back wall.
Raul Valle, 52, a popular manager of Skeeter’s restaurant in Kingwood, was undergoing surgery late Tuesday for a possible fractured leg, while his wife, 50, was being treated for cuts and abrasions at Kingwood Medical Center.
“My mother’s first thought was this must be another 9/11,” said Lisa Valles’ daughter, Courtney Bettis, of Tomball, who spoke for her parents.
A neighbor surveying the damage inflicted on the house near Lake Houston said, “They’re lucky to be alive.”
The driver of the Suburban, Hector Campa, 19, of Humble, is being held without bond on a charge of intoxicated assault. The Harris County constable’s office said he was already on probation for a conviction of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in 2006 after pleading guilty to repeatedly trying to drive an ex-girlfriend’s car off the road.
His passenger, Daniel Martinez, 21, of Humble, who investigators say fired the yellow paintballs at another motorist, is being held on $1,000 bond on a charge of felony mischief.
According to the Harris County Precinct 4 Constable’s office, Campa and Martinez had been involved in a dispute about 10 p.m. Monday at Norman’s restaurant on West Lake Houston Parkway and were ordered by the manager to leave.
Another patron, Christopher Morgan, 21, and a part owner of the business, Travis Lejeune, 25, then went outside to see if the two had left, said Capt. Wally Wieghat.
The confrontation soon escalated as Martinez fired a yellow paintball that struck Morgan’s upper right leg and another that hit the left side of Lejeune, authorities said.
Then Martinez and Campa sped away in the white Suburban, firing more paintballs as the other two chased them in their red Dodge truck.
“Morgan and Lejeune said they were trying to get the license plate number while being repeatedly hit with paintballs shot from an open window in the Suburban,” Wieghat said. “Those guns hold up to a hundred rounds and can shoot 300 feet in a second. It can damage a car and leave a whelp on you.”
Neither Morgan nor Lejeune could be reached for comment.
The Suburban was speeding and became airborne, unable to turn right off of Echo Pines onto Singing Woods, and plowed into the Valles’ home, authorities said.
The couple’s only clue that their world was about to turn upside down that night had been a loud screech, followed by an explosion that littered the air with debris.
Lisa Valles heard her husband moaning and clawed through pieces of sheetrock, wood and furnishings that buried him on the couch. The Suburban had formed a tunnel through the house.
While the Valles feel lucky to be alive, they also believe they have been jinxed since moving into their home in the 18000 block of Singing Woods Drive, the couple’s daughter said.
First, Raul Valles discovered he had a triple aneurism in his brain and underwent surgery in April. Then Hurricane Ike struck in September and blew trees down that demolished part of their home.
The couple had just restored the house and Valle had returned to work after taking medical leave when this latest incident happened.
“It’s been too much. They tell me that they don’t want to come back,” Bettis said. A white suburban — speeding out of control during a chase triggered by a paintball confrontation — careened through the center of the brick home, shoving the couple and the couch they were sitting on through the back wall.
Raul Valle, 52, a popular manager of Skeeter’s restaurant in Kingwood, was undergoing surgery late Tuesday for a possible fractured leg, while his wife, 50, was being treated for cuts and abrasions at Kingwood Medical Center.
“My mother’s first thought was this must be another 9/11,” said Lisa Valles’ daughter, Courtney Bettis, of Tomball, who spoke for her parents.
A neighbor surveying the damage inflicted on the house near Lake Houston said, “They’re lucky to be alive.”
The driver of the Suburban, Hector Campa, 19, of Humble, is being held without bond on a charge of intoxicated assault. The Harris County constable’s office said he was already on probation for a conviction of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in 2006 after pleading guilty to repeatedly trying to drive an ex-girlfriend’s car off the road.
His passenger, Daniel Martinez, 21, of Humble, who investigators say fired the yellow paintballs at another motorist, is being held on $1,000 bond on a charge of felony mischief.
According to the Harris County Precinct 4 Constable’s office, Campa and Martinez had been involved in a dispute about 10 p.m. Monday at Norman’s restaurant on West Lake Houston Parkway and were ordered by the manager to leave.
Another patron, Christopher Morgan, 21, and a part owner of the business, Travis Lejeune, 25, then went outside to see if the two had left, said Capt. Wally Wieghat.
The confrontation soon escalated as Martinez fired a yellow paintball that struck Morgan’s upper right leg and another that hit the left side of Lejeune, authorities said.
Then Martinez and Campa sped away in the white Suburban, firing more paintballs as the other two chased them in their red Dodge truck.
“Morgan and Lejeune said they were trying to get the license plate number while being repeatedly hit with paintballs shot from an open window in the Suburban,” Wieghat said. “Those guns hold up to a hundred rounds and can shoot 300 feet in a second. It can damage a car and leave a whelp on you.”
Neither Morgan nor Lejeune could be reached for comment.
The Suburban was speeding and became airborne, unable to turn right off of Echo Pines onto Singing Woods, and plowed into the Valles’ home, authorities said.
The couple’s only clue that their world was about to turn upside down that night had been a loud screech, followed by an explosion that littered the air with debris.
Lisa Valles heard her husband moaning and clawed through pieces of sheetrock, wood and furnishings that buried him on the couch. The Suburban had formed a tunnel through the house.
While the Valles feel lucky to be alive, they also believe they have been jinxed since moving into their home in the 18000 block of Singing Woods Drive, the couple’s daughter said.
First, Raul Valles discovered he had a triple aneurism in his brain and underwent surgery in April. Then Hurricane Ike struck in September and blew trees down that demolished part of their home.
The couple had just restored the house and Valle had returned to work after taking medical leave when this latest incident happened.
“It’s been too much. They tell me that they don’t want to come back,” Bettis said.
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