Man in restroom calls 911 as shots are fired in Houston House of Pies

Armed robbers burst into the popular House of Pies along Westheimer late Thursday.

Armed robbers burst into the popular House of Pies along Westheimer late Thursday. Photo: Mike Glenn, Chronicle Photo: Mike Glenn, Chronicle Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Man in restroom calls 911 as shots are fired in Houston House of Pies 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Armed robbers shot into the air during a late-night holdup at a popular west Houston restaurant.

Houston police said the two robbers hit the House of Pies along Westheimer near Briar Ridge at about 10 p.m. Thursday

At least a dozen patrons were inside the restaurant at the time. There were no reports of injuries, police at the scene said.

The robbers took cash and cell phones from customers and restaurant workers. They fired into the ceiling during the holdup, HPD officers said.

Charla Moore Sisk of The Woodlands said her dad, Bill Bownds, was at the restaurant when the shooting started and called 911 from the restroom.

"He said he was getting up to go wash his hands and had gotten near the bathroom when these masked people came in," she said by phone Friday. "He went in there and called 911. They told him, 'Stay in the bathroom until we tell you to come out.' "

By the time he got the all-clear, the waitress was still crying and Bownds was still waiting on his Boston cream pie, Sisk said.

The robbers fled as HPD patrol officers pulled up to the restaurant. Police said they took one of the robbery suspects into custody and a second was still being sought.

HPD officers did not have a detailed description of him. Anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.

Sisk said it's the second time Bownds, a former physical education teacher for the Alief school district, has had a close encounter with robbers.

In the earlier incident, he was going to his car in a store parking lot when a man with a gun demanded his wallet.

Bownds' calm demeanor apparently encouraged the robber to talk and he began telling him how he used to go to church.

"Bill's giving him his wallet and telling him, 'Well, you need to get back in church,' while he's got a gun pointed at him," Sisk said.