Wealthy Houston socialite Franci Neely was caught on video dragging props and harassing a couple during their child's photo shoot. It appears this was not the first time the woman confronted people taking photos in her glitzy Broadacres neighborhood.
Local outlet ABC 13 News reports the parents were taking photos of their 1-year-old on Saturday celebrating her birthday. A barefooted Neely got out of her car, came over to them interrupting the shoot and demanded they vacate the walkway.
The child's mother, Kelyn Alyssa, scheduled the shoot with a professional photographer. The set was supposed to capture the serene beauty of the neighborhood and a playful mood with props for the baby.
Alyssa wrote in a Facebook caption for the video recalling the details of her family's run-in with the socialite. She said the woman came over to them, put her dog down and confronted the couple. The unrestrained dog reportedly came toward the baby who was still on the sidewalk. Alyssa asked Neely to restrain her pet, but the woman declined to do so.
Footage showed Neely bat at the husband's cell phone at one point. In a fit of rage, the woman proceeded to dismantle the set as she pulled props, slapped balloons and destroyed the couple's items.
According to The Houston Press, the area is a popular destination for photographers.
Its popularity, however, has been met with criticism from the Broadacres Homeowners Association (HOA). Over the years, the association tried to ban people from using its neighborhood as a backdrop for photo shoots.
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"We had to take a stand is what we basically had to do because people were going into people's gardens, standing on people's front steps and they felt that they could just take over the neighborhood," HOA president Cece Fowler told the local press.
But the city of Houston ruled in 2017 that the esplanades were public property available to anyone who wanted to use them.
Neely has a history of confronting photographers. On Saturday alone, she spoke to two other groups taking pictures in the area. An ABC 13 viewer sent video to the station showing the woman, who was married to Houston Astros owner Jim Crane, demanding another group to leave the sidewalk. She split from Crane in 2017 and reportedly received a $30 million divorce settlement.
Since the video went viral, the woman at the center said she was "very sorry that I got upset." But she maintains the couple was disrespectful in her statement to ABC 13 News.
"I am very sorry that I got upset on late Saturday afternoon," she said. "Putting it in context, however: I saw three commercial photography shoots in one block at the same time, something that happens frequently. When I explained the situation to the first and third groups, they were respectful. The couple whose photo shoot obstructed the walkway was not. It's hard to remain composed when confronted by shouted threats of lawsuits and false, inflammatory accusations."
The couple filed a police report, and the Houston Police Department is investigating the matter. As of this report, no charges have been filed.
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