Man accused of breaking into Bayou Bend museum and using boat to get away arrested

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Thursday, April 15, 2021
Culvert on Buffalo Bayou becomes entryway in museum break-in
The details are too wild to comprehend, but HPD had a boat chase on the bayou to deal with overnight with two suspected museum burglars.

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A man accused of sneaking into a River Oaks museum and then prompting a police chase on a boat on Buffalo Bayou has been arrested.

Lewis Robertson, 33, was taken into custody on Tuesday and is being charged with burglary of a building.

READ MORE: Museum intruders use getaway boat on Buffalo Bayou, escape into storm drain, HPD says

Last month, police received a report of a break-in at the Bayou Bend Museum, a branch of the Museum of Fine Arts Houston. According to MFAH, Robertson and a woman entered the museum through a grate to a basement window.

WATCH: HPD searches for the suspects who took off in a boat on Buffalo Bayou

It was like something out of a movie! Listen to the moments that officers searched for a pair of burglary suspects who got away by boat on the Buffalo Bayou.

Police say the suspects appeared to have a motor boat waiting for them in the bayou, which borders the museum.

Officers were staged on the West Loop feeder road bridge over the bayou, but before the suspects got that far, police say they hid with the boat somewhere near the Brenner's on the Bayou restaurant in a culvert.

WATCH: How did museum intruders use a getaway boat?

So how did they do it? ABC13's TJ Parker explains.

According to MFAH, no works of art were damaged and nothing was removed from the premises. The Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens sits on 14 acres, straddling both sides of Buffalo Bayou.

Robertson is currently out on bond. He did not appear for a scheduled court appearance Thursday morning. The woman remains on the run.

The video above is from a previous story.