LUMBERTON, Texas — An 18-year-old Beaumont man is facing a long list of charges after police say he was involved in a number of car burglaries and a short chase in Lumberton.
Devonta Tyrone Stoker was arrested in Lumberton on Wednesday, and is charged with evading in a motor vehicle, failure to identify, theft of a motor vehicle, and unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon.
He's also expected to be charged with 16 counts of burglary of a motor vehicle, and two counts of debit card abuse according to Chief Danny Sullins. He said these are a mix of felony and misdemeanor charges.
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Police were called around 5 on Wednesday morning about a vehicle being burglarized on Hilda according to Sergeant Robert Brothers.
In that area, a pile of stolen items were found on the side of the road, and police found a receipt for registration of a vehicle out of Beaumont according to Brothers.
The vehicle then came by the area officers were, and a short pursuit began, ending with the suspect crashing and rolling the vehicle according to Brothers.
He received minor injuries. A stolen handgun, along with other items, were found at the accident scene according to Brothers.
Dawn Davis was at home taking care of a sick kid, when we showed up to tell her to check her car. She discovered it was one of the ones broken into early that morning.
Davis has lived at her home on Hilda St. with her husband and two kids for about a year and a half. She has a baby on the way, on top of working and going to school.
"We love it out here, it's so quiet, we never have to worry about people speeding up and down the road with the kids," Davis said.
Davis is from Winnie originally and grew up very cautious about locking her door, but when she moved to Hilda St. she said she got comfortable.
"I didn't lock my car and I've done it for a year now, with not locking my car, and it got broken into, so kind of my fault, I should have locked it," said Davis.
She discovered a computer that reads her vehicle, her wallet with social security cards, and a big bag of change missing. Davis said it was a lesson learned, and she will now always make sure her door is locked.
"It makes me upset, I mean we don't have the biggest and nicest house, and we don't have the nicest vehicles but we work hard for what we have," said Davis.
Davis said she's relieved that the police caught him, and hopes he'll learn his lesson and serve some time.
"I'm just glad that he wasn't trying to break into our house, we have two small children, so I'm glad it was a vehicle and not our home," Davis said.
She hopes police are able to recover some of her stolen items.
12News was able to ask Stoker some questions before he was transported to the Hardin County Jail. When asked if he had anything to say, stoker said he loved everybody saying, "free me and pray for me," and that he was "good."
Stoker claimed he wasn't going to jail for very long.
"Because I'm 18, the most I'll probably get is 10 years," he said.
Stoker said he could do 10 years, and wasn't worried about missing out on life as a young adult.
"I mean, I don't got nothing to lose right now," he said.
Stoker said he regrets stealing the truck, and somewhat regrets stealing from all of the hard working people he hit on his early morning crime spree.
When asked why he felt entitled to the stuff he took, he had this to say:
"Because I didn't have it, and I wanted it."
Stoker said he's been through a lot in his life, including getting shot, so this particular situation was, "nothing" to him.
Before heading into the Justice Court Building, Stoker said he was sorry to the people he stole from.
Stoker's bonds have been set at a total of $200,000 by Justice of the Peace Melissa Minton.
Police say he has previous convictions of unlawful possession of a firearm in Jefferson County.
The public is encouraged to let police know if they suspect or see that anything has been taken from their vehicles.
Brothers said the items they believe Stoker may have stolen have been recovered.
Any Lumberton residents that may have useful camera footage are asked to share it with police. Brothers said it is believed Stoker was out for several hours on Tuesday night.