Thief uses rat trap to smash into NW Houston lighting store

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A man broke into a lighting store in northwest Houston Wednesday morning using a concrete rat trap, according to store security video.

Sana Batol and her family started Estelles Lighting eight years ago.

"We're a small business," Batol said. "We're an honest business."

She arrived at the store along FM 529 Wednesday morning to find a hole in the front door and shattered glass covering the lobby. Security video shows a man using a concrete rat trap to break through the glass door and stealing money from a safe inside Batol's office.

"He opened it, he took all the cash in there. That was quite an amount of cash, a substantial amount of cash," Batol said. "Then I see his office, all the drawers are open. It's just completely messed up."

Her brother-in-law's prayer rug was taken out of the desk drawer and tossed underneath the desk near the trash can.

"It's just really sad to see people... They have a need to do that, you know, hurt others, for their own benefit," Batol said. "But you know, God's watching them, so even if they don't get caught, even if we're not watching them, God's watching them."

The security videos are in the hands of Harris County Sheriff's Office investigators, too, who are asking for the public's help in identifying the man seen breaking in.

"If I wish him the worst, what benefit am I going to get?" Batol said. "You know he's gonna be more bitter. Somebody else is gonna be the victim. So you have to wish someone always the best so they can learn from it and it will benefit the whole world."

If you have any information on who broke into Estelles Lighting Wednesday morning, contact the Harris County Sheriff's Office.

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