He Asked a Stranger to Help Move Furniture — Then the Mover Found a Body, and Things Got More Sinister from There

A man hired to move furniture at a home in Houston made a shocking revelation last Friday, leading to the arrest of a murder suspect who allegedly chased the mover down in a hectic scene that left the suspect bloodied.

Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said in a statement over the weekend that authorities arrested Steven Eberly after receiving multiple 911 calls about a dramatic scene playing out near Eberly’s home in Houston.

Eberly, 36, had allegedly hired a local man “to help him move furniture” at his house on May 16, according to Sheriff Gonzalez. The man was in the process of helping Eberly move a heavy box on his driveway when he noticed “a deceased individual” inside the box he and Eberly were attempting to move. 

According to home surveillance video obtained by KPRC, the man jumped back into his pickup truck and attempted to flee the scene after discovering the dead body. Eberly then chased the man down as he was driving away, reportedly jumping onto the truck bed and attempting to break the windows of the vehicle in order to stop the man from getting away.

The scene ended when the man’s truck struck another vehicle, resulting in Eberly injuring and bloodying his head. Harris County Sheriff’s Office Lieutenant Abraham Alanis said at a news conference later outside the home that authorities took Eberly into custody as he was walking back to his house, still with blood on his head.

Eberly was later taken to a hospital for a medical evaluation before being officially arrested and charged with murder, according to police.

Harris County inmate records reviewed by PEOPLE show Eberly remains in custody on a $2 million bond on the murder charge. He was also charged with tampering with evidence and attempting to take an officer’s weapon, county jail records show.

“This was a strange one,” Sheriff Gonzalez said in a statement Sunday, adding that officials “determined the deceased individual at the home was a contractor who had been working at the home.”

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The victim was identified as Luis Silva Mendez, USA Today reported. The outlet added that a motive has yet to be determined by police.

“He’s just somebody that’s probably taking care of his family that had to do housework and had to do mowing and there’s no way that what happened to him should have happened,” a neighbor told local KPRC.