‘Dangerous’ man tries kidnapping several women over three days in Texas, police say
A man who was out on bond spent at least three days trying to kidnap several women in Texas, police said.
“He would follow them, stop the car, get out and approach and try to engage them just in conversation,” Bellaire Police Chief Onesimo Lopez told KHOU. “And in a couple of cases the women were able to get away from him, in one case he got very close to one of the victims.”
At about 8 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 21, someone called police about a man chasing a woman in a neighborhood, according to a Facebook post from the Bellaire Police Department.
As officers were looking for the suspect, they received a second call about eight minutes later, police said. Someone reported a man tried to abduct a woman less than a mile away from the first incident, according to the police department.
About one minute after the second call, traffic officers stopped the man in a beige Toyota Camry, according to the news release.
“We dispatched officers into the area and were able to locate the suspect not too far away from where we received the calls,” Lopez told KHOU. “The construction likely slowed him down which is why one of the reasons we were able to catch him.”
The man, identified by police as Amar Barkouda, was arrested and charged with attempted kidnapping, police said.
Officers learned Barkouda was also a suspect in a Houston Police Department investigation regarding a similar call on Sept. 19 and a Bellaire investigation from Sept. 20.
Authorities believe he has tried to abduct at least six young women over three days, KHOU reported.
Because of the number of incidents and the nature of the alleged crimes, police are asking anyone who believes they were also a victim to call Bellaire police at 713-668-0487 or Houston police at 713-884-3131.
The man was out on bond on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, police said.
“We know this individual is dangerous and really needs to be off the streets,” Lopez told KHOU.
Bellaire is part of the Houston metropolitan area.
This story was originally published September 22, 2023 at 10:34 AM with the headline "‘Dangerous’ man tries kidnapping several women over three days in Texas, police say."