FRESNO, Texas — Five people were arrested in Pearland Wednesday in a catalytic converter theft ring, police said.
Search warrants were executed at three homes, including one on Pepper Creek Lane, and three commercial properties in the Pearland area as part of what Pearland police are calling a "large-scale, multi-agency investigation."
Several law enforcement agencies were seen Wednesday morning at a home in the Fresno area in Brazoria County on West Dallas near Nail Road. While executing the search warrants, officers seized 17 pallets of catalytic converters and other items, Pearland police said.
A KHOU 11 crew captured video at a Pearland home where catalytic converts and other items were seen spread out on the lawn as police investigated.
Two women and three men -- Henri Pham, 59, Le Quoc, 39, Timothy Ngo, 51, Tram Le, 48, and Tran Le, 45, -- were arrested and charged with engaging in organized criminal activity, which is a felony.
Neighbors said two families with children live in the homes and they're related. Some said they were shocked to wake up and see police swarming their neighborhood.
Jaime Hinojosa, who's lived in the neighborhood for nine years, said the families were quiet but he always had suspicions. Hinojosa said he'd seen box trucks with metal products backing into his neighbor's driveway about once a month in the middle of the day.
"You don't back up a box truck, or big trailer ... you could see they were moving stuff from the garage," Hinojosa said. "They were either storing it there first or send(ing) it out. Now it's making sense to me, what was possibly going on."
Hinojosa said he is a retired automotive part professional. He's grateful that police are cracking down on catalytic converter crimes because he understands how expensive it can be for victims who have to wait months for replacement parts.