Doctor says pick-up truck crashed into same clinic hit by looters during Hurricane Harvey

Wednesday, July 17, 2019
Suspects seen smashing pick-up into NE Houston medical clinic
One of the doctors thinks it might be the same people who looted the building during Hurricane Harvey hoping to get away with drugs.

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Staff at a northeast Houston clinic are left cleaning up after someone drove their pick-up truck into their building.

"I don't know whether I want to laugh or cry," said Dr. Jim La Rosa, who practices at the clinic. "I'm going to laugh and have a good day."

Police say it happened around 4 a.m. Wednesday at the Bretshire Medical Clinic, located near Homestead and Parker Road.

Surveillance video shows the truck backing into the side of the building. The suspects, dressed in dark hooded sweaters with bandanas covering their faces, are seen running in and then getting away with nothing.

"We were thinking that some people who looted the building back during Hurricane Harvey thought the pharmacy was still up and running, and they were going to bust down the door and the wall and grab all these wonderful drugs," La Rosa said.

The staff says there weren't any drugs inside the building, which used to be a pharmacy and is currently empty and up for lease.

La Rosa says no one was inside at the time of the crash, but someone in the area did hear something.

"There was a fellow next door that chased them off with a shotgun," he said. "We were happy about that."

Officers were called to the scene and are now looking for the suspects.

"There are no drugs on premise anymore, so let the neighborhood know," La Rosa said. "We're just running a nice medical office, taking care of all the neighborhood."

Staff at the clinic says they are trying to make the best of the situation.

"My nurse practitioner, she was telling some of the patients coming in that we now have a drive-thru clinic," joked La Rosa.

The clinic is still open while repairs are being made.

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