The Anna Police Department recently arrested an electrical breaker thief from El Salvador, with help from a drone.
Anna police recently busted an El Salvador citizen, Raymond Fernando Salazar Melgar, for allegedly stealing electrical breakers from newly-built homes, the department announced August 10. Officers used a drone to track Melgar and another suspect “casing” a neighborhood, before they arrested him.
Melgar was booked in the Collin County Jail on a $25,000 bond for charges including burglary, driving without a license, and failure to stop properly, a Collin County employee told The Dallas Express. But he was released to another agency, which the employee could not specify, on August 12.
Anna and “surrounding communities” have been “hit hard” by electrical breaker thieves targeting new construction, according to the department. During the investigation, police found 288 stolen breakers.
Anna Assistant Chief of Police Terry Eoff told The Dallas Express these thefts took place in Anna and Celina. However, the case is “still under investigation,” and “breaker thefts are widely reported in this area,” so the exact location is to be determined.
Detectives and officers obtained intelligence and video identifying a possible suspect vehicle, according to the department. So they entered the vehicle into the department’s license plate reader system, and a camera detected the vehicle on August 10.
Officers and an off-duty detective noticed this, and police tracked the vehicle to Anna Town Square. Then, an “officer/pilot” launched a drone.
Police deployed the drone “within minutes of locating the suspect,” according to Eoff, and it observed him for nearly an hour.
“The drone tracked the suspects as they walked around, casing the neighborhood, through three battery changes,” the department posted. “The drone maintained surveillance on the suspects until they re-entered their vehicle and drove away.”
Then, officers stopped the vehicle for a traffic violation near County Road 423 and Highway 5, according to Eoff. Melgar was with an “adult female” at the time, and they did not resist arrest. Eoff said officers did not arrest the woman, but she “may have charges at a later date.”
The Dallas Express asked if any larger criminal groups were involved. Eoff said while there are no ties to criminal groups “known at this time,” the matter is “still under investigation.” He could not confirm Melgar’s immigration status.
Melgar led officers to a “number of offense locations” across multiple jurisdictions, according to the department.
“This demonstrates phenomenal teamwork between multiple patrol shifts, the drone unit, and the criminal investigations division, and will solve numerous cases,” the department posted. “Great work by all involved.”
Anna and nearby communities like Celina have seen massive population booms in recent years, bringing swarms of developers. Anna’s population was less than 10,000 in 2012, but it more than doubled by 2022. Celina’s growth is even more drastic: from close to 8,000 in 2012 to more than 34,000 by 2022.
These thousands of new homes are apparently appealing targets for burglars. But now, Anna’s police have eyes in the sky.