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Police Charge Houston Couple In Snapchat Video Who Allegedly Shot Up Hurricane Harvey Neighborhood

By Robert Jonathan
Published on: 12:21 PST, Oct 3, 2017

A Houston couple who allegedly randomly fired shots out of a moving car window in a west Houston neighborhood hit by Hurricane Harvey are in police custody after a multi-agency investigation.

The footage of the alleged drive-by in an area flooded by Hurricane Harvey was uploaded to Snapchat allegedly by the suspects themselves.

A Reddit user whose screen name is /u/harriscores spotted the videos and notified Houston police who launched an investigation. /u/harriscores, who works in the area, said he was just browsing a Snapchat map feature that allows users to view public snaps in any location, the Houston Chronicle explained

The Houston Chronicle subsequently reported that the suspects turned themselves in to cops.

“Police charged Michael Anthony Cuellar, 29, and Sierra Tarbutton, 27, with felony criminal mischief and deadly conduct [October 2] after obtaining video of the two apparently shooting blindly into a neighborhood as they drove through in the early morning hours of Sept. 26…The video clips posted on the social media platform Snapchat apparently show the couple smiling as they fire more than a dozen shots into a neighborhood near the 15800 block of Memorial Drive. The two were identified after police compared the videos to other social media accounts and law enforcement search engines, according to court records.”

Cops say that Cuellar is a local rapper who goes by the name of “Money Mike” and is a known drug dealer. In a press conference, Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo said that Cuellar is being held on $200,000 bail, while Tarbutton is being detained on no bail, apparently because she is on probation for another incident in which she allegedly threatened the family of a police officer.

The couple’s attorney claims that the neighborhood where the shots were allegedly fired is practically deserted, having been evacuated during the Hurricane Harvey emergency. The lawyer also maintains that the couple decided to surrender to authorities because media reports turned them into villains after the Snapchat video went viral. He also implied that there is more to the story.

No one was apparently harmed in the incident. One store owner claims that a $30,000-plus sign was permanently damaged, however. Both residences and businesses are located in the previously flooded area where shots were fired.

Watch the Snapchat video in question below.

According to CW39 of Houston, Tarbutton was allegedly using a Masterpiece Arms MPA30T semi-automatic pistol with an extended magazine.

Watch the press conference with Chief Acevedo as he provides an update on the arrest of the Houston couple in the alleged Snapchat shooting incident following an investigation by HPD detectives and investigators from nearby jurisdictions.

As this is a developing story, be sure to watch this space for updates.

[Featured Image by David J. Phillip/AP Images]

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