Kidnapping Suspect Caught In Montgomery County

CONROE, TX — The Harris County Sheriff's Office and the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office announced the arrest of a man on charges of aggravated kidnapping, and aggravated sexual assault of four women last weekend.

On Tuesday, a multi-agency task force arrested Howard Dixon, 23, on charges of sexual assault and aggravated sexual assault in Montgomery County, and attempted kidnapping and aggravated kidnapping in Harris County.

He is currently being held in the Montgomery County Jail with his combined bail amount set at $300,000.
Dixon's reign of terror in Harris County allegedly began with the attempted kidnapping of a woman in north Harris County at about 10:30 a.m. on Saturday.

"Fortunately for this young lady, there were some employees working on a yard crew, and they were able to rescue her from [Dixon]," said Lt. Jeff Stauber, an investigator with the Harris County Sheriff's Office Violent Crimes Unit.

Ten minutes after his first attempt, Dixon allegedly tried to kidnap 55-year old Luz Baena.

Dixon allegedly got out of his car, grabbed Baena, and forced her into his car, and punched her in the face to subdue her.

“She decided she wasn’t going to be victim, and she actually jumped out of the vehicle,” Stauber said.

Investigators were able to obtain video footage of Dixon’s car from neighborhood surveillance cameras, and shared the footage with media outlets throughout the Houston area.

On Sunday, the sheriff’s office received a tip that the car from the video was at a gas station filling up with gas.

Investigators were able to get a clearer picture of the vehicle as a result, Stauber said.

Just before 3 p.m. on Sunday, Dixon allegedly coerced a woman to get into his car and sexually assaulted her.
“She was forced to perform sexual activity against her will,” said Detective Mike Lee, an investigator with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office.

The woman was able to escape from Dixon and call police with a description of his car.

However, while police were investigating the sexual assault that occurred at Interstate 45 and Rayford Road, Dixon allegedly found another victim in the same area and sexually assaulted her as well, Lee said.

In the second case, Dixon allegedly persuaded her to get in his car, where he strangled her and forced her to have sex with him, before she escaped.

Stauber said based on Dixon’s aggression, he believes someone would have eventually been killed if Dixon hadn’t been caught.

Officials are hoping that if there are more victims, that they will come forward and talk with law enforcement officials

Each of the felony charges carry a possible sentence of 5 to 99 years if convicted.

Image: MCSO

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