Wichita Falls, TX — It’s warming up in North Texas, with temps reaching into the high eighties last week. But a North Texas woman was still shocked to look out her window late in the day on April 22nd and see a man she didn’t recognize taking a dip in her pool. The woman also noticed that the intruder wasn’t wearing any pants.
Hot weather aside, this is the kind of crazy no homeowner wants. The man was later identified as Matthew Reyes, 25. He has escaped just a few minutes earlier from the North Texas State Hospital.
That’s why he wasn’t wearing clothes: he’d stripped out of his hospital gown after breaking out of the hospital. He’d made his escape after a janitor had left his keys on a table within reach of Reyes.
Reyes didn’t waste any time. He ran out of the hospital, stripped off his clothes in the thick brush behind the hospital and plunged into the nearest clearing.
That’s when he found the backyard pool.
Wichita County Sheriff David Duke said the man was a stranger to the couple. He said, “So they didn’t know him at all never seen him before. We’re to believe he found this random house with a swimming pool and got in the swimming pool.”
Not Just Taking a Swim
Okay…not normal, but maybe he’s harmless?
The woman wasn’t sure he was dangerous, so she called her husband, and then 911. But by now, Reyes had seen that the woman was home. He started to try to break in the door of the house to get at the woman.
But luckily for her, her husband had beaten the police to their house. The Sheriff explains what happened once he got home:
“He got back up again, and came at the homeowner and the homeowner fired one shot with a shotgun, hitting the guy in the right knee/upper leg, and breaking his femur,” said Duke.
Don’t Mess With Texas
Matthew Reyes is now back in a hospital, this time in Fort Worth. Meanwhile, the Wichita County Sherriff’s office will present this case to the district attorney. After that, the homeowner’s case will go before a grand jury to see whether they were acting in self-defense. Sheriff Duke thinks that case will be open and shut.
Reyes is now at a hospital in Fort Worth, while the Wichita County sheriff’s office works to present this case to the district attorney’s office. The homeowner’s case will then be heard before a grand jury to decide if he was acting in self-defense, something Sheriff Duke believes is evident.
Duke said, “You can’t predict what he’s going to do, and if somebody’s got a firearm and there’s somebody coming at him and he’s protecting himself, there’s not a lot that can be disproved from that.”
The homeowner has not been arrested. Reyes, meanwhile, is facing an additional misdemeanor criminal trespassing charge.
Be Ready At All Times
This was a Wednesday afternoon in a nice neighborhood. It was still daylight. It wasn’t some scummy alley at 2:00 on the Saturday morning. This sort of story puts to rest the old idea that as long as you avoid trouble, it will avoid you.
It’s far better to be prepared for trouble, no matter what. Carry every day, and work through various scenarios with your family about what to do if the unthinkable happens in your home.