3 violent home invasions overnight: Are they on the rise?

A woman is in the hospital recovering after she was stabbed at her own home. It happened in La Porte, but there were actually several violent home invasions in the last 24 hours.

Under the cover of darkness two men grabbed a woman arriving home and attempted to force her into her house near Cullen and Airport.  Her husband heard the commotion and opened fire on the men.  After a shootout, one of the attempted home invaders got away, the other ended up shot and in surgery.

”It’s usually quiet around here,” says neighbor Jose Garza. 

That happened around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday.  By 11 p.m., Houston police ended up on Deirdre Anne Lane where investigators say a man with a machete was on a resident's roof.  The homeowner thought animals were up there, so he grabbed a ladder and couldn't believe what he found.

A few hours later in La Porte, a woman was asleep in her home and awoke to her barking dog. She went to check it out and was attacked. 

”She was stabbed and she sustained some serious but non-life threatening injuries,” explains La Porte Police Department Sgt. Bennie Boles.  La Porte police have arrested 21-year-old Cassius Collins, who's actually related to the victim.

So are violent home invasions on the rise?  “We’re not seeing an increase in home invasions. They’re kind of sporadic.  They’re not something that happens on a regular basis,” says Sgt. Boles.

Still some are uneasy. 

“I’m trying to think what do I need to do to secure my house now?” ask La Porte resident Susan McDonald.  

Pamela Johnson, 62, was behind burglar bars in her Cypress home when investigators say Houston's accused serial killer managed to get in and murder her. 

”The burglar bars were visibly damaged in a manner consistent with being struck by a large object,” the prosecutor explained as Jose Gilberto Rodriguez appeared in a probable cause hearing.

So how can you stay safe?  Sgt. Boles suggests investing in something he says bad guys loathe, home alarms and security cameras.

“They want to get in and get out undetected.  If you have those things or broadcasting ‘home under surveillance or alarm’ those things really deter and they’re going to go to a house that does not have those things.”  Boles also says if you hear something in your backyard or at your home, don't go investigate.  Instead he says call 9-1-1 and an officer will be sent to check it out.