Houston Police say they have a better idea now who they're looking for in a series of burglaries and home invasions near the West Loop. A security camera at the home of the most recent robbery captured clear images of each of the five men who, police say, have been targeting upper-income homes since last fall. David Pitman has more.
Police are calling the burglars the "Clean-up Crew." The crew consists of five African-American men who earned that nickname by tying up the housekeepers in two of the home invasions. The men have hit half-a-dozen homes, mostly north and west of the Galleria. Police Sergeant Darrell DeFee says the crew put a lot of planning into each burglary.
Pin Map of Houses Hit By the Clean-Up Crew (Click to Enlarge)
"And all the homes that were targeted had security safes inside of them. And that's a common denominator in both the home-invasion robberies as well as the burglaries."
Sgt. DeFee says there's no evidence to indicate the burglaries were an inside job, but he wouldn't elaborate on how investigators believe the suspects knew to look for a safe inside each home. Last week's home invasion, in Crestwood near Memorial Park, gave authorities their biggest break so far — images from a security camera.
"It shows the faces of all five members of the crew with their ski masks pulled up. We encourage people that might know these persons to contact us and let us know where we might find them."
Sgt. DeFee says authorities are looking for connections between the Houston burglaries, and another series of robberies in Fort Bend County. A pin map of the houses the Clean-Up Crew hit along with images of the burglars can be found on our website —
kuhf.org.
