Fort Worth police recovered more than a dozen stolen vehicles and thousands of other stolen items from a massive chop shop hidden in a residential neighborhood.
A search warrant executed on the home of two brothers in the 2800 block of Northwest 28th Street on February 6 yielded thousands of dollars worth of stolen property in what police are calling the “largest chop shop operation” they have seen “in years,” as CBS News Texas reported. Two suspects linked to the stolen items are currently at large.
After finding evidence last month allegedly linking two suspects to a stolen vehicle and copper wire taken from AT&T, investigators with the Fort Worth Police Department opened a case and obtained a search warrant for the property.
“It was a criminal enterprise,” said Sgt. Anthony White, the leader of department’s metal theft and property crimes unit, according to Fox 4 KDFW. “With the amount of property on the scene, it really took us a minute to just say, ‘Where do we begin?'”
The diverse items, some of which had allegedly been stolen from as far away as Mississippi, included cars, trucks, motorcycles, ATVs, trailers, construction equipment, tools, rims, and tires.
However, much of it was from North Texas, including two bounce houses and a mechanical bull, which were reportedly stolen from a local nonprofit last May.
“They didn’t just steal from me, they stole from those kids,” said Ruth Ann, the executive director of Fort Worth Metro, an inner-city outreach program, according to CBS News Texas. “The kids were like, ‘Where’s the bull? Where are the bounce houses?’ It was devastating to have to tell them that somebody took them.”
Ann explained that while a $12,000 trailer stolen from the nonprofit was not found at the residence, she experienced a measure of solace in getting some of the stolen items back.
“It’s a terrible feeling to just feel violated,” she said.
Property crimes are prevalent across North Texas lately, accounting for 61% of reports made to the Dallas Police Department this year as of February 14, according to the City’s crime analytics dashboard.
Motor vehicle theft is the most prevalent crime citywide and is on its way to outpacing the alarming 40.5% hike in such offenses seen between 2022 and 2023. A total of 1,939 auto thefts have been reported so far this year, compared to 1,675 during the same time period last year.
Many of these vehicles were stolen in Downtown Dallas, which is becoming a hot spot for crime due to a significant staffing shortage of officers within DPD. The department fields around 3,000 officers, whereas a City report called for 4,000 to fulfill public safety needs. The neighborhood regularly puts up higher crime figures when compared to Fort Worth’s city center, which is patrolled by a dedicated police unit and private security officers.
This year, DPD will have a budget of only $654 million after Dallas city officials elected to spend much less than other high-crime jurisdictions, like New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago.