Editorial

Last Friday, I reported the story of a Houston Repo Man who was shot during a repossession and the police let the shooter go. Today I was fortunate enough to talk to Martin Holsome, the victim of this crime. What the presses brief story failed to provide was the details of this situation that should alarm the general public.

Below is Martin’s story. Before everyone goes off the handle accusing him of being ill trained or a simple tow jockey, I can see no fault in his repossession attempt or management of the situation. Having spoken to him, he is no rookie. Martin has told me he has been working in the field for eight years for a certified and well insured Repossession Agency. His employer wishes to remain anonymous for obvious reasons.

“Martin’s Story”

“I arrived at the 2200 Block of South Gessner, an apartment complex named Sunblossum at Woodlake at approximately 12:20 A.M. Due to the gate being open, I proceeded through the gated entrance unobstructed. I located the unit that was to be repossessed according to a order received from the finance company. After verifying the identifying information necessary to recover the unit, I unfolded the lift on my work truck and backed under the rear of the unit. I lifted the unit into the air and pulled away. As I drove away I noticed a man running into his apartment leaving the door open. A moment later, the same subject exited the apartment door and began running on the upper-level catwalk towards my truck. What appeared to be a sawed-off shotgun was presented at this time and without warning, fired upon my vehicle. This gunshot entered the rear window of my single-cab Dodge Truck striking me in my upper -right shoulder, armpit and ribcage area. Along with the gunshot wounds, approximately (8) punctures, I was also cut by shards of glass from the explosion the window directly behind by head.

I continued driving in the direction of the exit gate with the repossessed unit hooked to my truck. I phoned the owner of the company and informed him that I had been shot while executing a repossession. After disconnecting from this call, I exited the complex through a gate and turned right onto South Gessner towards Westheimer Avenue. I was dragging the recovered unit behind my wrecker truck at approximately 40 MPH towards an Exxon gas station located at the corner of Westheimer and South Gessner when I heard another gunshot. I heard the shot strike the front right door and fender of my truck. I drove until I saw a narrow concrete median that my truck could cross. I jumped the median and proceeded into the parking lot of the Exxon station. I placed the initial emergency call to Houston 911 at 12:57 A.M. I informed the dispatcher of my location, my physical condition and of the situation.

After emergency personnel and law enforcement arrived, I gave brief statements to them both and was transported to the Memorial Hermann Hospital for treatment. At approximately 4:30 A.M. I was released in stable condition. William Harrison (the shooter) was not charged, nor was he arrested. He was released from questioning with no further charges.”

A couple of details Martin forgot to include in his narrative is that the vehicle was unregistered and inoperable. Hardly worthy of the shooters effort. The police reportedly had waited for approval from the District Attorneys Office for approval to arrest the shooter. The DA declined and preferred to pass it on to The Grand Jury rather than contest the shooters allegations that he was so in fear for his life that he ran back into his second story apartment to grab his sawed off shotgun and chase Mr. Holsome out through the apartment complex and fire two rounds at him from behind.

As further insult to injury, and that is literal, if no charges are filed against the shooter, Martin will have to foot the $5,000 hospital bill.

Now I understand tradition, but it’s 2011 folks! Texas’s frontier-era law, Texas Penal Code 9.41, an 1800’s frontier era law created to deal with cattle thieves, has almost once again created a deadly situation that is again being abused by the public to defend themselves in attempted murder against repossessors. While Mr. Holsome was fortunate enough to have survived this incident, it is merely a matter of time until another injustice occurs in Texas just as it did in 1994 with the Tommy Deen Morris murder. What exactly are the associations or anyone for that matter, doing to get this law revised or abolished I do not know, but I can only pray something is done before it is too late.

Kevin Armstrong

Editor