Theft ring suspects had home full of merchandise

SPRING, Texas (KTRK) -- Power tools and vacuums are just some of the hundreds of stolen items deputies say they recovered inside of a home in Houston.

Harris County Precinct 4 Constable Mark Herman said couple Andre and Julie Nguyen ran an elaborate crime ring, where they paid people to burglarize stores for stolen goods.

Deputies arrested the couple on Thursday.

"They had to make forced entry to this house but when they kicked in the front door there was stuff stacked up behind it, merchandise, that's how full this house was. It was just up to the ceiling in some rooms," said Herman.

Deputies said the crooks hit at least a dozen Home Depot, Target and Lowes stores. Investigators believe there are more connected to the ring, but they said these two are the ring leaders.

"We know there are other henchman, if you will, doing the stealing. We're still working on that, but I can assure you, in this particular case, we cut the head off of the snake," said Herman.

Herman says as part of their three month long investigation, undercover deputies were able to infiltrate the ring.

Neighbors can't believe what was allegedly happening in the nice home just down the street.

"We don't know anything about that we barely see them out there," said neighbor Tuong Nguyen.

Tuong Nguyen says the couple kept to themselves. He said it is a quiet and close neighborhood, and he hopes it stays that way.

"I really don't want to see anything like this happen to our community," said Tuong Nguyen.

Deputies are not saying whether the Nguyens sold the stolen merchandise or what they did with it. The couple is booked into jail with a $500,000 bond each.

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