Man says he's frustrated by lack of police help after his truck was stolen

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A Houston man said his truck was stolen in the middle of the night after just a few months of ownership.

Bobby Brown said he called 911 shortly after it was stolen on Monday morning and told the dispatcher that a GPS was on his truck.

"Dispatch told me if I didn't go to the location of the truck and try to look for it there was nothing he could do," Brown said.

Brown said he tracked the truck to a neighborhood about 20 minutes away. He couldn't spot it, and the alarm button on his keys wouldn't work.

Brown said he even flagged down law enforcement in the area, who said that because the truck was pinging on private property, there was nothing they could do. Brown said he then filed a police report.

"I told them everything, the full story, how I have video of them stealing my vehicle, I have the location of the last known ping of the truck, cause I asked them if they were working the case or getting a warrant to search the place," Brown said.

Brown said Houston police told him there would be no warrant to search the property, no detective on his case, that the truck was listed as stolen, and that they would keep an eye out for it.

"It's a jab in the chest. I worked my butt off for the truck, and it's gone in less than 10 minutes," Brown said.

According to HPD data, 2,799 vehicles were reported stolen from January to March of this year. 3,282 vehicles were reported stolen in the same time frame last year.

However, more cases have been cleared so far this year. The Department of Public Safety marks a case as cleared when an arrest has been made. 180 cases were cleared by arrest this year, compared with 154 in 2025.

Eyewitness News reached out to HPD, which said it is now assigning an investigator to the case. Brown said it shouldn't take the threat of public scrutiny for that to happen.

"I feel like it's all a mess right now. I have to do all the work when I feel like it's their job. Me going to the last known location of the ping; I shouldn't have to do that," Brown said.

Brown said he's not hopeful he'll ever see his truck again, and that he's focused on completing the insurance process so he can invest in his next vehicle.