Six Houston men are in the Montgomery County Jail after deputies say they unraveled a roaming burglary crew that hit convenience stores and retail chains across Southeast Texas. Authorities report the group is suspected in break-ins in Montgomery, Grimes and Walker counties and that the operation zeroed in on tobacco products and power tools, items investigators say can be flipped quickly on secondary markets. All six are booked on charges of engaging in organized criminal activity while detectives continue working the case across county lines.
The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office Crime Reduction Unit opened the investigation in February after a pair of overnight hits: a Shell gas station on Many Pines Road in The Woodlands and a Tractor Supply off Interstate 45 in Conroe, according to the Houston Chronicle. Investigators reviewing security video say a silver Dodge Charger pulled into the Shell lot around 2:18 a.m., where three people allegedly smashed the glass doors and grabbed more than $2,200 in tobacco products. License-plate readers later pinged the same Charger near the Conroe Tractor Supply, where DeWalt power tools were reported stolen.
A detective eventually tracked the Charger to the Bristol apartment complex on Grand Plaza Drive in Houston, where deputies say they watched people hauling black trash bags out of the vehicle before moving in to make arrests, according to a Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office release reported by Bluebonnet News. Investigators also link the crew to a March 8 Tractor Supply burglary in Navasota, a Falco’s C Store burglary in Huntsville on April 8, and an attempted Harbor Freight break-in in Porter later that same day. Deputies say they recovered stolen items and clothing during a series of traffic stops that helped lock in those connections…