One Courageous Grandpa

I usually try to keep it pretty light in the Back Yard but there’s really no way to chuckle at this story – unless you’re a sick bastard.

This is the tale of 76-year-old Henry Scmidt who freed himself from a prison of duct tape and rolled 100 feet down his driveway to get help. This was after he endured a two-day ordeal of being robbed, tied up, starved and left for dead by two punks.

From the Houston Chronicle:

Henry Schmidt lay on the floor of his home in rural northwest Harris County, alone and trapped, believing he was going to die.

Two intruders had swaddled the 76-year-old man in a quilt, strapping him with duct tape before burglarizing his house. He was bound hand and foot, with another layer of the silver-colored tape coiled around his body.

For nearly two days after the burglary earlier this month, Schmidt was wrapped in the makeshift cocoon, barely able to move.

Investigators say Erick Carranza, 27, and Junior Velas¬quez, 18, came to Schmidt's home around 6 p.m. on May 3 with a roll of duct tape and knocked on the door. When Schmidt opened it, they forced their way in and knocked him to the floor before taping his limbs in a back bedroom, Lt. Jeff Stauber said.

The two then allegedly spent several hours ransacking the home, leaving with guns, a riding mower and Schmidt's vehicle and trailer.

Schmidt managed to roll himself into the kitchen during the night, only to be taken back to the bedroom when the two returned the next morning. They then spent about two hours cleaning the house in an attempt to eliminate evidence before leaving with more of Schmidt's belongings, Stauber said.

Schmidt, although dehydrated and with little strength left, then resumed his struggle to free himself.

After several hours, the elderly man was eventually able to free his arms from the quilt. His wrists still taped together, Schmidt crawled on his elbows to the kitchen. There he pried open the refrigerator and knocked some grapes to the floor to eat. Then, again using his elbows, he worked his way to a rear entrance and used his feet to slide the door open.

Schmidt crawled outside on his elbows and rolled some 100 feet down a concrete drive to the road. Some two hours passed before a motorist finally stopped, freed him and summoned help.

Paramedics transported Schmidt to a hospital, where he was treated for his injuries. Stauber said he was bound so tightly that pieces of adhesive remained on his skin, and his elbows were bloody from scooting on the ground.

Carranza and Velasquez have been charged with aggravated robbery and unlawful restraint with serious bodily injury.

Carranza was released from the Harris County Jail on bail of $50,000, and is scheduled to appear in court June 10. Velasquez, who has an immigration hold on his case, remains in County Jail in lieu of bail set at $70,000. He is scheduled to appear in court today.

Can you believe one of these guys is out on bail? I’m all for innocence until proven guilty but if I was one of those cops it would have been hard for me not to stomp on these guys’ heads until my foot was covered in brains.