Two burglary suspects in custody after running out of gas

FORT BEND COUNTY, Texas – Investigators say the pair of suspected burglars were caught when they missed a key detail in their getaway plan.

Sheriff's deputies didn't have to go far to find the two suspected burglars -- they ran out gas in the middle of an intersection at Williams School Road and FM 360, not 100 yards away from the very same storage unit they're accused of breaking into.

"Yeah, well it didn't look like they had a very good plan," Phil Janda said.

He says he knew something was wrong when his dogs Lucy and Dakota wouldn't stop barking.

"I'm a light sleeper so I heard the dogs barking and barking and barking," said Janda.

When he looked outside he saw the lights of car he thought was stuck in a ditch. Sheriff's officials say that car was driven by 24-year-old Cody Allen Andel and 34-year-old Herman Dewayne Ephran.

Sheriff's officials say the pair broke into a storage unit of the house and stole several pieces of equipment. But the duo ran out of gas during their getaway.

Not only did they run out of gas, but sheriff's deputies say then they had the bright idea to start knocking on people's doors at 3 o'clock in the morning, with a gas can and asking if they could get some gas.

"They must be pretty brave. Don't get shot. I wouldn't knock on anybody's door at 3 o'clock in the morning," Janda said.

Other residents of the rural subdivision felt the same way and dialed 9-1-1. A sheriff's deputy came out and found the men next to their SUV. When he looked inside the car...

"Lawn equipment, fuel cans, an air vac. Things of that nature in the back of the vehicle," said Capt. James Burger with the Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office.

And Sheriff's Captain James Burger says when the men were questioned about the stuff in their SUV..

"The story of cutting grass at 3 am didn't really fit," Capt. Burger said.

Both men were arrested and charged with burglary of a building. Sheriff's officials say the gas can the men were holding when they went house-to-house was also stolen.

Ephran, of Wharton, and Andel, of Guy, are still being held in the Fort Bend County Jail. Deputies say both men have prior criminal records.  They are checking into whether the pair is connected to any other burglaries in the area.