It was a cell phone found by Houston police in the driveway of a home on the 1,200 block of Gober in southeast Houston that had just been burglarized that led to the arrests of Anthony Seiger, 19, and Ricardo Lugo, 18, at two different locations in Pasadena.
"He took the phone, showed the victim, asked if it was her phone," said Sgt. A.G. Riddle with the Houston Police Department. "She said it was not."
The phone started ringing. The HPD officer answered and to his surprise, on the other end of the line was a Pasadena police officer investigating a wreck where a flatbed truck had crashed into a house at the 1,900 block of Merle in Pasadena.
"The driver of the truck stated his brother owned the truck and had the insurance coverage and gave his brother's cell phone number," said Sgt. Riddle.
Police quickly figured out the description of the truck matched the description of the one that was seen leaving the scene of the burglary on Gober.
"Inside of the truck on the floorboard and seats, there was some jewelry in plain view that officers immediately recognized as fruits of the crime," said Sgt. Riddle.
Seiger, the driver, was arrested. A further investigation led Houston police to an apartment complex at the 800 block of Shaver in Pasadena where police say they ended up recovering the bulk of the items that were stolen including a 40 inch television. They also arrested Lugo, who was caught hiding in the bath tub.
We went back to the apartment Wednesday. A woman identifying herself as the wife of the alleged suspect told us she had nothing to say. Houston police call their work on this case nothing more than good old-fashioned police work, with a little help from technology.
In addition to the jewelry and TVs, police also recovered DVDs, CDs and tennis shoes from the apartment. Both suspects have been charged with theft. One is due in court this Friday.
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