Robbery Victims Seeking Help

[GlennT]

Gentlemen, in Texas you have to think big!! The following are excerpts from an article in the April 10, 2002, issue of the Fredericksburg (TX) Standard-Radio Post.

The victims of a recent robbery in Gillespie County are offering a $1,000 cash reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for the crime which occurred sometime between Tuesday, March 26, and the morning of Saturday, March 30.... A partial list of the major items taken the robbery includes: 1985 Ford F250 brown pickup truck with a white fiberglass camper shell; red Felps tandem cattle trailer, about 12 feet long; new white Frigidaire refrigerator; new black-and-white Kenmore stove and range; new full-size beige couch with a matching love seat; new royal blue recliner and a blue-fabric swivel rocker; 21-inch Magnavox TV; Minolta 35mm camera with 3 lenses; single-shot shot gun and an antique single-shot .22 rifle; antique trunk with inside-fitting shelf; Murray high-wheel push mower; black boom-box; maroon Eureka vacuum cleaner. In addition, several tools such as a Wagner paint sprayer, oscillating sander, hand-held grinder, drills, a variety of chain and electric saws, five tool boxes with tools, portable air tank and a pair of Craftwman weed-eaters were stolen. Also taken were bed coverings, deer antlers, spotlights and miscellaneous tools. According to the (victims' name), a chain on a locked gate was cut and the thieves drove through an open field and three more gates before reaching the house. They then cut a chain to enter the garage and another one to enter the cellar.

 

[mikim]

To hook up the trailer and load it with all that stuff took some time. Somebody knew those folks were gone & not coming home soon.

 

[DavidInNH]

Yep, these guys were thinking big. How much of this kind of activity do you see now that Fredricksburg has gotten so popular?

I graduated from Tivy HS (next door in Kerrville) in '72. I left Texas in '87 to escape the heat - I'm much more comfortable in the snow. I overlooked the fact that I get to visit family during the summers in the worst of the heat. I'll be in Kerrville & Bandera over the 4th of July. Oh well - it isn't as hot as the two years I spent in Singapore...

-david

 

[Thomas]

Wondering if one of those guys are moving into a new home or big apartment..I would be watch for a surprise yard sale.Too bad they weren't caught in the act.

 

[Bob_Trevithick]

Were these folks insured? I sure hope so! /w3tcompact/icons/mad.gif

 

[TonyC]

Yeah that's something that always worrys me about living rural. Someone could drive a pickup right through my front door and load it up and no one would know it. Of course they wouldhave to get past my dogs first.

 

[GlennT]

DavidNH--Fortunately, there's not much of this kind of stuff going on; most theft is petty, such as the theft of cigarettes from a Quick-Stop. The Crime of the Week in the local paper often describes the theft of lawn ornaments or everybody's favorate sport--bashing mailboxes. The population here is growing by leaps and bounds, but most of the imigrants are retirees and they tend to have enough money and are too tired to cause problems. Funny, though, when you do have a significant crime it can be sensational, such as the theft of almost two-dozen ATVs over a brief period of time--many of them from the same dealer. Or the local resident who resisted the serving of a warrant and had a gun fight with two deputies in his driveway before they nailed him.

 

[DavidInNH]

GlennT,

Thats good to hear. It sounds like the same scene as when I was growing up. We have the same kind of pattern up here, the local papers give a police log for each town. Lots of small stuff, and occasionally something sensational - like the 3 kids that cut a tree down and blocked a snowmobile trail and ended up killing somebody - a real no-win case if there ever was one.

-david

 

[dmccarty]

GlennT,

Just to let people now this is not just a rural crime.

This happens in the city as well. I know of robberies where the men
drive up in a moving truck, load up the contents of the house, and leave.
The neighbors see it happening but don't think to ask what is happening
or call the POlice.

I know one house that was robbed like this, it was on a busy street, and
the neighbors saw it happen.......

FYI,
Dan McCarty

 

[Golfgar4]

<font color=blue>"...men drive up in a moving truck, load up the contents of the house, and leave."</font color=blue>

How about the opposite? Men drive up in a moving truck at your new home with your furniture on the truck and refuse to unload it unless you pay them an extra $200.00 in cash right then! /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif

There are two guys from North Carolina in jail right now in Port Washington, WI for doing that very thing! Apparently this is a scam that this moving company has been pulling for awhile. The customers in Port Washington were getting suspicious when their furniture hadn't arrived on time, so they started doing some checking with local authorities and found that these guys were wanted in North Carolina. Once the moving guys called them and told them they were ready to deliver, the customers called local Police. The movers showed up, demanded the extra cash, busted up some of the customers furniture in front of them to intimidate them, then drove off with all the furniture. What they hadn't noticed was that while all this was going on, the Police blocked the end of the street so the movers couldn't get away! /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif