HOUSTON — A man is in police custody for allegedly targeting at least two Midtown bars.
The break-ins happened between December and January during the overnight hours.
The reported losses of the two bars hit totaled $21,000.
HPD says Jones has been arrested 63 times in Texas, 54 times in Harris County. The 45-year-old was convicted in 37 cases. Seven of them were burglary of building.
In February, officials said Jones took a plea deal for a different burglary that happened in November. He is serving a two-year sentence.
Police say surveillance cameras helped them identify Jones in these cases.
“What I would definitely recommend to the business owners is to have a constant power source for those cameras because a lot of the instances right now, the suspects are cutting the power to the cameras, and so if they have backup that would be great," Detective Ng with the Houston Police Department said at a news conference on Friday.
A city ordinance requires certain businesses to have video surveillance from the building exterior to the property line 24 hours a day.
The owner of Reserve 101, one of the bars that was burglarized, is part of a coalition of bar owners who previously took their frustrations to city council.
"I think before, we weren't necessarily being heard. I think the attention that's come from this, we've been significantly more heard by the city. Now we're considerably more heard by the police force as well," said Sean Fitzmaurice.
Fitzmaurice said there's still more work that needs to be done, but it's a step in the right direction.
"Us being able to continue to work with the city, talk about these PR bonds, talk about the alarm permitting, finding a solution," he said.
Fitzmaurice said the coalition has been working closely with councilwoman Leticia Plummer, who is spearheading efforts to create new policies to better protect bar owners.