Special Operations Investigators with the Lubbock Police Department are currently investigating more than 60 reports of vehicle burglaries within the last 72 hours. Investigators believe these cases that occurred late Sunday night into Wednesday morning are all connected and are being carried out by the same group of suspects.
After numerous vehicle burglaries were reported Monday morning, the LPD Special Operations Unit began investigating the rash of burglaries, all of which followed a similar pattern. The majority of these burglaries occurred in the overnight hours west of Indiana Avenue where the suspect smashed the driver side window and crawled into the vehicle to steal items. Most of the vehicles are pickup trucks that had construction type tools inside.
Through the investigation, Special Operations Investigators were able to track some of the stolen property to a home at 2211 25th Street. The LPD SWAT team served a search warrant for the home on Tuesday, September 26th and recovered approximately 80 items believed to be stolen from vehicles over the last few days.
The recovered property, with an estimated value of $10,000 to $15,000, included many items such as drills, saws, grinders and other power tools. So far, investigators have been able to link the recovered property to at least seven different vehicle burglaries.
As a result of the search warrant, 20-year-old Ricky Trevino was arrested and charged with felony possession of stolen property. Trevino is currently cooperating with investigators.
During the investigation it was discovered the group of suspects were using two stolen pickup trucks, one red and one white, to carry out the burglaries.
At approximately 2:30 Wednesday morning, patrol officers received a call concerning two suspicious pickup trucks in the area of 5100 80th Street. When officers arrived, they located the two trucks that matched the description of those used in the recent burglaries. Officers lost sight of the white pickup. After a short pursuit, the red truck lost control and spun out. Two male suspects got out of the truck and ran from officers. The stolen red pickup truck was recovered, however the suspects were not located. While on scene, officers located multiple vehicles that had been burglarized.
Several hours later, Special Operations investigators located the stolen white pickup truck that was also used in the burglaries.
Investigators believe there are at least three young Hispanic males who are responsible for the large number of vehicle burglaries.
Anyone with information on these suspects is asked to call Crime Line at (806)741-1000. Callers with tips leading to the identity or arrest of the suspects could be eligible for cash rewards.
Investigators are also in the process of identifying additional owners for the recovered property during Tuesday’s search warrant. Some of these items may not have been reported stolen just yet or they may have been reported stolen to a different agency outside of LPD. These are items that would have been stolen from vehicles Sunday night through Tuesday afternoon. If anyone believes some of this property belongs to them, they should call the Lubbock Police Department at (806)775-2842.
(News release from the Lubbock Police Department)
