Thieves steal Bellaire High School FFA students' new livestock trailer

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Just days before a group of Bellaire High School students were supposed to travel to a big statewide competition and show off their animals, someone stole their expensive livestock trailer and a few other things.

Several of the Bellaire FFA students still plan to compete against others across the state this weekend, but now they have to find another way to get their 11 cattle there. Thieves ripped off their brand new trailer and loaded it up with hay and feed before letting all the cattle out of the fence.

Dusty is preparing for a little scrub down. He's one of six cattle left wandering a busy road after thieves stole thousands of dollars worth of equipment and feed from the Bellaire FFA barn.

"He definitely could have died, if there was a car and they weren't paying attention," student Courtney Gonzalez said.

Less than three weeks ago, the Bellaire FFA acquired a 20-foot aluminum livestock trailer, it still had paper plates on it. It was parked near the barn. Then sometime between Sunday night and Monday morning, thieves broke onto the property, hooked up the trailer and then loaded it with student hay and feed.

"They snapped the lock off the storage container here, opened it up, and from that point, they just helped themselves to the feed and the hay that was in here," Bellaire High School ag teacher Mark Peak said.

They had to immediately restock the hay and feed for the animals to consume. What's even more disappointing, is that whoever stole the trailer, is in the same line of work as the FFA students.

"The bond, the brotherhood has been violated. And that's kind of the most disappointing thing in my mind. Whoever took the trailer, had to be in the industry," Peak said.

A police report had been filed and between the trailer, hay and feed the students are looking at a $16,000 loss. They hope someone recognizes the trailer and calls authorities.

"We're doing this for good and it's not like we deserve to get this stolen from us," Gonzalez said.

They do have insurance. However, the trailer won't be replaced before this weekend, so they are checking with other organizations to see if they can borrow one for the Washington County fair in Brenham this weekend.

(Copyright ©2012 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.) Get more Local »

bellaire, local, erik barajas

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HPD: Man tried to steal sheet metal from employer

Police say someone saw an employee of this store jump the fence Sunday. That employee was arrested

  HOUSTON (KTRK) -- An employee at a sheet metal business could be out of a job soon.

Officials say he was caught stealing merchandise from his boss at Eldred Sheet Metal Works on Hays at Chapman near downtown Houston.

A man working next door allegedly saw the suspect jump the fence at the sheet metal business.

Police were already in the area and arrested the suspect.

(Copyright ©2012 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.) Get more Local »

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Robbers steal $355,000 worth of jewelry from Galleria store

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- In the middle of the holiday hustle and bustle, a group of violent robbers managed to pull of a $355,000 jewelry heist in The Galleria.

The mall was full of shoppers, and people dining in restaurants when the chaos erupted -- and not everyone knew why they were being told to get down.

Bryan Parras was having a beer at the Daily Grill in The Galleria around 9:30pm Thursday.

"Actually playing on my phone, and I noticed folks begin to king of just gesture and what's going on, what's going on?" Parras recalled.

His mother grabbed his arm and told him to get down, and he saw many more people doing the same.

"Some are getting on the floor like flat chested, others are dragging their girlfriends along and their wives. I think I even saw some folks with strollers," Parras said.

A couple of stores down, witnesses saw three masked men enter Ben Bridge Jewelry. The men stole hundreds of thousands of dollars in merchandise, but thousands of people inside the mall didn't know what they were doing.

"At the time, we didn't know whether it was a terrorist, it could have been someone with a bomb, could have been anything," Parras said.

David Anderson, the general manager of The Galleria, released a statement that reads in part:

"Whenever an incident like this occurs in our community, our primary concern is always for the safety of our customers and mall employees. We are pleased to report that no one was injured during this unfortunate incident, and contrary to reports, there were no firearms used in the robbery."

On Friday, shoppers filled the mall, many of them unaware of Thursday night's scare.

"It's kind of spooky because I have small children so we try to stay close together and my nine-year-old has a cell phone," shopper Rachel Thomas said.

"It's one of the bigger malls in Houston, so there has to be more security; I think there has to be more security outside," shopper Astrubal Russo said.

And those who were there describe those few minutes say they weren't sure how it was going to end.

"It was just a heist it seems, there was no threat hopefully to any of the folks shopping, and luckily no one tried to stop them," Parras said.

A spokesperson for Ben Bridge Jewelry says there is video surveillance from the store and police are reviewing it. The store reopened Friday.

(Copyright ©2011 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.) Get more Local »

local, christine dobbyn

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