Surveillance shows thieves break into business, steal some change

HOUSTON – One southeast Houston business owner is on a mission to catch two thieves who were caught on surveillance video breaking into his business.

The whole heist was caught on surveillance tape.

The business' president, Ryan Winkelmann, said it happened around 5:30 a.m. Dec.29 at BJS Autohaus in southeast Houston.

Winkelman said the men had been hiding behind a car parked in front.

"Two guys came in, kicked in our front door," Winkelmann said. "They had waited for the most opportune time," said Winkelman.

From multiple angles, the surveillance cameras show two man smashing in the glass of the front door, then making their way inside.

"The other guy was trying to kick in one of the doors. He was able to get through one door. He wasn't able to get past the second," Winkelmann said.

The thieves are then shown breaking into the glass window of the pay office, hopping inside, wrecking the office and finding a cash box.

"It's a change drawer so they didn't get very much. But they did make a lot of damage here," Winkelmann said.

The thieves damaged multiple doors, a window and the cash box. 

"With the alarms and the noise, the thieves ran off," said Winkelmann.

However, he said it's sad.

"I feel like I've got off lucky," Winkelmann said. "You go into every one of the businesses around here, and they'll all tell you, they see their share of it -- getting held up, getting broken into in the middle of the night."

He believes these two thieves are behind many other crimes.

"I'd like to see these guys caught. I'd like to see them in jail, and I think the people in this area, especially the neighbors and business owners, want to see the same thing," said Winkelmann.

Anyone who knows anything about this incident is asked to call Crimestoppers at 713-222-TIPS.