Warrant out for man who held mom, kids against their will in northwest Austin apartment

AUSTIN, Texas - A warrant is out for a man Austin police say held a mother and her two children against their will at gunpoint inside their northwest Austin apartment.

Blake Irving Thomas, 26, has been charged with third-degree felony unlawful restraint.

Court paperwork says Austin police officers responded to an apartment complex on Lake Creek Parkway on Feb. 17 just after 3:30 p.m. where they met with the mother who said a man, identified as Thomas, came to her apartment that morning between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. She said Thomas forced her and her two children into a back room of her apartment and that on at least two occasions, Thomas held a gun to her six-year-old's head and then to her head.

The victim told officers she tried to get out of the room a couple of times and Thomas held the gun to her head while swearing and threatening to kill her. She said he would then grab her and force her back away from the door, holding her against her will. She also told officers Thomas bit her on her back and head, causing an open wound.

The victim said this went on for several hours until she was forced to leave without her children, at which point she ran to call for help. Officers arrived and were able to safely extract the children from the apartment and Thomas was found to have already left.

The mother was transported to the hospital where she received numerous stitches to close the wounds caused by Thomas's bite.