HOUSTON – A popular Midtown seafood restaurant was targeted by thieves again.
Houston police said two women and a man broke into REEF on Travis near McGowen about 11:40 p.m. on Monday.
After a burglary alarm went off, a neighbor saw a man carrying a flat-screen TV out of the restaurant and put it into a car.
That neighbor wrote down the suspects' license plate number and told another neighbor, who is an off-duty police officer. The officer called for backup.
Houston police spotted the car and pulled the driver over.
The three people inside the car, including Victor Whitfield, 49, were taken into custody. Officials said burglary charges against Whitfield are pending.
The stolen TV and other items were found inside the car, investigators said.
REEF is owned by chef Bryan Caswell and his business partner, Bill Floyd.
The owners said the restaurant has been burglarized three other times.
Police have not said if all the burglaries were connected, but the owners told Local 2, this break-in was similar to the previous crimes.
Caswell said police also found drug paraphernalia in the suspects' car.
When Caswell asked one of the women why she broke into his restaurant he said she told him, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."
Chef Caswell and Floyd also own Little Bigs and El Real Tex-Mex Café in the Montrose area.
Caswell competed in "The Next Iron Chef" on the Food Network and was eliminated in the sixth week of the show.