HOUSTON – The Houston Police Department said it has received over three dozen tips since 11 News first reported a series of burglaries in the Memorial Park area.
A $15,000 reward is being offered for information that leads to stopping five armed robbers who targeted a million-dollar mansion near Memorial Park, tied up the housekeeper and hauled away the safe. The same men are suspected in at least six similar robberies in West Houston, according to police. The robbers took safes from all of the homes.
The most recent robbery happened early Wednesday morning in the 300 block of Terrace Drive. The suspects threw a blanket over one of the security cameras attached to the home before breaking a glass door to get inside, police said.
They used a dolly to carry the 400-pound safe down from the second story to the first. The suspects were in the home for about an hour before they headed for a getaway car that was waiting outside.
The housekeeper wasn't hurt.
While the suspects covered one of the security cameras, they missed another one. It caught the robbers red-handed and gave police good photos of four of the five suspects.
“As much information is coming out right now, you definitely hope somebody is going to see them and want them caught and put where they belong,” said David Greenberg whose housekeeper was also tied up in a May 29 robbery on Shady Lane.
Greenberg's safe was taken and his housekeeper was the only one home when the suspects smashed a glass door and rushed in.
He said he is so upset about what has happened that he is offering his own $10,000 reward if anyone can lead police to the men.
“It was a very traumatic experience. She was tied up. She was covered up,” he said. “We had quite a bit and it's gone. It's all history. Stuff we worked very hard for all these years and somebody comes in and takes it just like that.”
Police hope to catch the thieves before they strike again.
"This is a very sophisticated crew," said Sgt. Darrell Defee with the Houston Police Department. "I’ve been a detective a long time, about 29 years, and I’d say this is one of the more sophisticated groups that I’ve ever worked on."
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 713- 222-TIPS.
