HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — A man accused of going on an alleged hammer-wielding rampage in west Houston ended his probable cause hearing by threatening the hearing officer.<\/p>\n
Hearing officer Lisa Porter had just set Mauricio Barboza’s bonds at a combined $75,000 on criminal mischief and aggravated assault charges on Friday morning when he made the threat.<\/p>\n
As Barboza is exiting the courtroom, he appears to flash a sign with his hands and breaks into a bizarre dance.<\/p>\n
When Porter addresses him, he hurls the b-word at her and shouts, “I will have your head,” followed by more words which Eyewitness News couldn’t completely make out.<\/p>\n
Barboza had to be wrestled out of the courtroom by a bailiff as he continued shouting.<\/p>\n
He’s accused of brandishing a hammer at multiple people on Thursday while making death threats.<\/p>\n
Police say they were first called to a location on Westheimer near Shadowbriar just before 5 p.m. for reports of a man screaming and wielding a hammer, but say he was gone by the time officers got there.<\/p>\n
Officers say they were later told Barboza had confronted a day care worker while she was taking out the trash.<\/p>\n
According to court records, Barboza raised his hammer and told the woman he would kill her if she came any closer.<\/p>\n
Tara Woods said she’s seen Barboza before and that he frequently sleeps by the dumpster behind the daycare.<\/p>\n
“That’s his little house right there, his little makeshift house,” Woods said.<\/p>\n
About an hour after the call to the daycare, police say they got another call to the Lowe’s on Westheimer at Kirkwood, less than a mile away.<\/p>\n
Lowe’s employees told police Barboza had caused $10,000 worth of damage by using his hammer to smash the solar panels on a mobile security camera in the parking lot.<\/p>\n
When a loss prevention officer confronted him, he allegedly charged at the officer with a hammer and a knife and told him, “I’m going to kill you.”<\/p>\n
He once again left before police arrived. Police say they finally found him at the scene of the original crime behind the daycare.<\/p>\n
“He comes running down the street. The police were right behind him. They chasing, they chasing, they chasing, they chasing. And a lady cop said, ‘Stop, stop, stop!'” Woods said.<\/p>\n
Woods said Barboza even tried jumping a fence to avoid capture, but that he was ultimately taken into custody when officers deployed a Taser.<\/p>\n
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