Lee County Sheriff's Report
Two from Lincoln area arrested by
Giddings Police for drug possession, DWI
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1/12/09 Giddings Police were dispatched to the Chevron at 374 East Austin Street in Giddings after receiving a report that the door had been pried open.
Officer Spencer and Officer Connolly responded to the call at 12:56 a.m. on January 6th and secured the facility.
Officer Spencer canvassed the area in an attempt to locate a suspect. While checking the area officer pencer found that the front glass had been broken out at the Stop'n Shop Convenience Store located at 389 West Austin Street.
The search for the suspect vehicle continued and Sgt. Ramsey, Cpl. Det. Carvin, and Lee County Sheriff's Deputies were called in to assist.
Both burglaries were related to thefts from ATM machines located inside the stores. The ATM machine was damaged in the incident and police retrieved the ATM's money box to process it for fingerprints.
Authorities are withholding the amount of cash taken while the investigation continues.
Giddings Police Arrest Man on Theft Charges, Recover Tools Worth Thousands of Dollars During Investigation
1/6/09 Giddings police arrested a local man and charged him with felony theft after investigating a complaint from the owner of a Giddings business - Tri County Mechanical.
On December 30th, senior patrol officer Tashuna Byrd and Cpl. Det. Sterling Taylor were dispatched to a call from Tri County in reference to a report that a large amount of tools had been stolen from their facility at 190 North Harris.
Business owner Randy Page reported that numerous power tools, hand tools, hydraulic tools and other items were stolen from his property and from company vehicles on or about December 29th.
Officers canvassed the area and located a possible witness, Thomas Jenkins, who said that he noticed a white male subject who was "acting suspicious" near his residence which is in the area where the alleged robbery took place. Jenkins reported that his encounter with the subject occurred on December 29th at approximately 11:30 p.m.
Jenkins was able to give police a clothing description and direction of travel of the suspect, who fled the area when confronted by Jenkins. Chief Lapham met with Jenkins and had him view a photo line-up. Jenkins stated that if he saw the suspect in person he would be able to make a positive ID.
Chief Lapham later received a telephone call from the witness stating that he had once again spotted the subject that he had seen the night before. Police dispatchers sent officers to the 400 block of E. Brenham Street where they located the alleged suspect, Richard Hudson, 49, of Giddings. Hudson had only recently been released from jail.
The witness, Thomas Jenkins was present and positively identified Hudson as the same person he had seen carrying tools in his neighborhood the night before.
At that point Hudson was detained as a person of interest in the burglary investigation. Hudson originally denied any wrong-doing but later became "cooperative", leading Chief Lapham to the place where he had "stashed" some of the stolen property.
Hudson gave police directions to the home of his alleged accomplice, Ricky Walters. Chief Lapham took Hudson to Walter's home where they located two tool cases that had been taken from Tri County Mechanical. Hudson stated that Walters had stolen the items from the business and then given them to him.
Hudson then led Chief Lapham to the residence of Theodore "Flat" Eans, where he (Lapham) had officers check the front yard and porch area for stolen tools. Officers did locate tools on the front porch that turned out to be the property of Tri County Mechanical.
Hudson implicated Ricky Walters, stating that Walters had stolen the tools and taken them to Eans' house.
Tri County Mechanical owner Randy Page was contacted and arrived on the scene. Page positively identified the power tools as the ones that belonged to his company.
"Flats" Eans was contacted and arrived at his house where he was interviewed by police. He stated that "a white dude", Richard Hudson, "brought the tools to his house - last night".
A neighbor of Eans also reported to police that Hudson had tried to "sell them a heater and some tools - last night".
Police requested, and were given permission to search "Flats'" house, where they located numerous power tools, hand tools and other tools throughout the residence. Police also located property taken from a local automotive repair facility, Lopez Auto Clinic, that had not been reported stolen. Joel Lopez was contacted and arrived at the scene to take possession of the these items.
While interviewing Ricky Walters, police learned that Walters saw Hudson carrying the tools and Hudson asked Walter to help him move the tools to "Flats'" house.
Later, during an interview, Hudson informed Chief Lapham that other tools had also been "stashed" behind Bucce's convenience store located on Highway 290 East. Chief Lapham radioed for assistance and Lee County Sheriff's Department Investigator Calvin Robertson located numerous stolen tools and a tool box at the site.
Suspect Richard Hudson was subsequently transported to the Lee County Law Enforcement Center where he was booked and secured on charges of Felony Theft: $1500 - $20,000 (Enhanced).
Owners of both of the businesses involved, Tri County Mechanical and Lopez Auto Clinic, plan to pursue theft charges against Hudson.
