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By MIKE GLENN
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle
Two men were determined enough to scale a 6-foot chain-link fence topped off by strands of razor-sharp barbed wire, but maybe they should have paid more attention to the sign on the fence — Houston Police Impound Lot.
Officials said Heath Boutte, 30, and David Martin, 33, were "rather determined individuals" in their efforts to rummage through cars at the lot in the 1300 block of Dart near downtown Houston. Police arrested the pair March 1, saying they grabbed a television from one of the cars.
A judge later handed them 90-day jail sentences after both pleaded guilty to the break-in.
Police began monitoring the lot in mid-February after noticing that more than a dozen cars there may have been burglarized.
"Many of the vehicles in the lot come to us in damaged condition," said Houston police Lt. Robert Manzo. "Some of them have parts missing, such as doors and windows."
Manzo said the break-ins did not compromise investigations.
Officers found Boutte with a chisel and a pair of pliers. Martin confessed to being a lookout during an earlier burglary at the police lot, Manzo said.
Police have beefed-up security since the break-ins.
mike.glenn@chron.com
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/3096748
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle
Two men were determined enough to scale a 6-foot chain-link fence topped off by strands of razor-sharp barbed wire, but maybe they should have paid more attention to the sign on the fence — Houston Police Impound Lot.
Officials said Heath Boutte, 30, and David Martin, 33, were "rather determined individuals" in their efforts to rummage through cars at the lot in the 1300 block of Dart near downtown Houston. Police arrested the pair March 1, saying they grabbed a television from one of the cars.
A judge later handed them 90-day jail sentences after both pleaded guilty to the break-in.
Police began monitoring the lot in mid-February after noticing that more than a dozen cars there may have been burglarized.
"Many of the vehicles in the lot come to us in damaged condition," said Houston police Lt. Robert Manzo. "Some of them have parts missing, such as doors and windows."
Manzo said the break-ins did not compromise investigations.
Officers found Boutte with a chisel and a pair of pliers. Martin confessed to being a lookout during an earlier burglary at the police lot, Manzo said.
Police have beefed-up security since the break-ins.
mike.glenn@chron.com
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/3096748