BEAUMONT, Texas — Violent crimes seem to be on the rise in the Beaumont area, and police are now backing that up.
There have been reports of shootings and other violent crimes. Now, one Beaumont woman is speaking out after being held at gunpoint while doing a late-night pickup for her work.
Beaumont Police say violent crime really has increased in the Beaumont area in the past five years.
"Three masked armed men got out with guns pointed at me," said the Beaumont woman who asked to remain anonymous for safety reasons.
She was picking up some materials at Mustang Cat along Eastex Freeway on the night of April 26, 2022.
"He said ‘I'll tell you what. I'm going to give you three seconds to remember and then I'll pop you and he started counting and like everything just sort of stops when somebody does something like that to you," the Beaumont woman said.
The three robbers took her wallet, phone, and car keys while holding her at gunpoint. A few hours later, they were arrested for robbing a convenience store in Vinton, Louisiana. But she didn't know they were arrested until she read a news story a week later.
"I could have known that the perpetrators were probably most probably in custody,” the Beaumont woman said. “And I wouldn't have had to change the door locks on my truck or the ignition on my truck or the door locks on my house because they had my license and my truck keys and everything.”
While she is frustrated with how her case was handled, Beaumont Police couldn't comment on this case because it's an active investigation.
But Lieutenant Mike Mills with the crimes against persons unit said there is a pattern of increased violent crimes in the Beaumont area.
"Crimes where someone uses a weapon, or a victim suffers serious bodily injury as a result of it,” Mills said.
Mills said by this time in the year, they usually have two or three homicides. This year, we're already at seven.
While they don't know the reason for the increase, they are asking for the public's help.
"The more information they give us, the more we have to work with and then more cases we clear, obviously, we can't do it alone," said Sergeant Jesus Tamayo.
But for victims, even if they come forward, the experience is life-changing.
"It's really my sense of security. That's what they took away," said the Beaumont woman. "I'm, I'm very afraid, and I've never been afraid before."
She also said she takes more precautions now in situations in which she used to be comfortable. While she said she's glad the suspects have been caught, she hopes others don't have to go through the same thing.
CRIME STOPPERS | Submit a tip @ 833Tips.com
If you have information about a crime you could earn a cash reward of up to $1000 by providing an ANONYMOUS tip to Crime Stoppers of Southeast Texas.
Call 833-TIPS (8477) or download the P3Tips App on your mobile device to submit your tip anonymously.
This is a developing story. We will update with more if and when we receive more confirmed information.
CRIME STOPPERS APP | Download the P3 Tips App
GET NEWS & WEATHER ALERTS | Download the 12News App to your mobile device