HOUSTON – A welding truck that was stolen last week from a Navy veteran and father of six has been found.
“They took food out of our family’s mouth,” Mike Linzy said.
Mike and Colleen Linzy learned about one of Houston’s pitfalls the hard way Wednesday afternoon.
“Somebody stole my truck. My truck is gone,” he said.
Mike Linzy, a decorated Navy veteran who did six tours of the Middle East and an experienced welder, had his welding truck stolen out the parking lot of Northern Tool in southeast Houston.
“The manager said I was in there for six minutes and 48 seconds,” he said.
It only took the thieves seconds to drive off with the family business, his 2003 Ford F-350 truck, which had four welders and two cutters inside.
Linzy's business is a one-man operation, and his truck is his office.
Linzy's family said Monday that police found the truck late Friday night. They said the tools that were inside the truck and a couple of welding machines were missing.
As for the criminal investigation?
“Frankly, I haven’t even heard back from the police yet,” Linzy said.
This all comes after he said he waited nearly four hours for Houston police to take his report at Northern Tool. Ultimately, Mike and Colleen Linzy eventually gave up and went to the Houston Police Department’s Southeast Substation to file a report.
The Police Department released the following statement about the incident:
“It’s regrettable and we do apologize that they had to wait so long and go down to southeast to file a report.”
Colleen Linzy said it was challenging to break the news to her family. The couple has six children between them. They are also new residents of Houston, having just moved to town less than a month ago.
“It was hard. We just moved here, and I want them to accept their new surroundings and their new hometown,” she said.
The total value of everything lost? The family said it is pushing six figures.
Mike Linzy, who is recently retired from the Navy, is not letting the incident sink him. He is on a flight to Sacramento on Friday night to pick up a used truck from a family member. He will then drive back to Houston over the course of two days.
He’ll be back on the job next week.