Smash and grab interrupted by quick-thinking waitress and officers

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A smash and grab was interrupted by a quick-thinking waitress. Now, police believe the suspects may have been on a city-wide crime spree.

Houston police say a handful of criminals crushed the corner of the Shell Station at Highway 290 and Hollister when they backed into it with a stolen pickup truck.

Police tell us a waitress was outside the IHOP taking her break when she saw the break-in happening nearby. She went inside and told some Houston Police officers who were eating there. They jumped in their patrol unit and chased the suspects to the other side of the freeway, near Wells Fargo.

The driver crashed the pickup truck and police took him into custody along with 3 other suspects on foot. One other suspect escaped on foot.

The clerk in the gas station was not hurt, and the crooks didn't take anything.

The vehicle, police say, matches the description of one used at another break-in at I-10 and Federal. Both scenes are still under investigation.