What happened
TOMBALL, Texas â Tomball police arrested five men accused of using chop saws, crowbars, sledgehammers and backpacks full of tools to break into the El Mercado meat market on the 23200 block of Snook Lane early Wednesday morning.
Investigators said the suspects broke into a side door of the market around 4 a.m.
"Once entering the building, they disabled one surveillance camera," Tomball Police Department Lt. Brandon Patin said. "However, we still had another surveillance camera working."
The other camera recorded one of the burglars -- with the help of a flashlight -- using a sledgehammer to knock a hole in the wall. He then tried to break a hole in the floor in an attempt to get to the safe.
Getaway, apprehension
The men were able to get away with some cash, but only for a short while.
A security monitoring company notified police about the break-in. In less than two hours, an officer spotted the suspect vehicle and, with the help of two other agencies, pulled over the car and arrested the suspects without incident.
Mychael Reece, Tony Winn, Rashad Barefield, Gregory Stevenson and Michael Ferguson were taken into custody. They're all from Houston.
"The officers were on the street at the right place at the right time," Patin said. "They had good dispatchers giving them the information based on the security company that called in the information to them. It was just one great team all around."
Investigators said several of the suspects were out of jail on bond for burglary charges. They believe the men may be involved in a number of burglaries throughout Harris County.