Abbott, Houston DA Announce Domestic Violence Sweep
By Brian Rogers
Houston Chronicle
February 26, 2014
Texas Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate Greg Abbott announced Wednesday that 31 fugitives wanted for domestic violence in Houston have been rounded up in a sweep that began last week.
“So many people across the county are being harmed, physically and emotionally, because of domestic violence, some are losing their lives,” Abbott said at a press conference in Houston’s criminal courthouse. He said the concentrated effort was important to get suspects off the street and send a message of deterrence. “Don’t you dare harm anybody else, because if you do you’re going to find yourself behind bars,” he said.
Abbott appeared with Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson who said her office files protective orders for victims and criminal cases against suspects.
“Domestic violence has far reaching impact, especially on the children in the home who are witnessing the violence,” she said. “In 2013, we filed more than 10,500 domestic violence cases. That number, unfortunately, has remained steady in the last two years.”
She said 30 people were killed in domestic violence incidents in Harris County last year, the highest number in the state.
The sweep, from Feb 18 to Feb 25, netted 31 suspects including one of Harris County’s 56 most wanted fugitives, 29-year-old Christopher Matthew Blake.
On Feb. 21, investigators arrested Blake in Kingwood. He had been added to Harris County’s Most Wanted Fugitives list in 2013 for a domestic violence offense in December.
Blake had a physical altercation with his sister’s boyfriend during which he pointed a semi-automatic handgun at the man and asked, “What are you going to do?,” according to court records.
The assault ended without shots being fired. Blake is free on a $30,000 bail.
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