WEST ORANGE, Texas — Two police departments are investigating after an SUV stolen from the West Orange-Cove Consolidated Independent School District was used in a separate burglary.
Both crimes happened early Monday morning, almost an hour apart from each other.
Around 4 a.m., West Orange Police received a call concerning a burglary at the West Orange-Cove CISD transportation building. When officers got to the scene, they discovered an SUV was missing and the building had sustained severe damage.
Officials notified other law enforcement agencies in the area about the stolen SUV.
Shortly after 5 a.m., a Stateline Valero in Orange reported that an SUV ran through the store.
Surveillance video from inside the store shows a man walking around, knocking over a display case and grabbing the register full of cash. After the robbery, the suspects fled in the SUV.
The incident left the store severely damaged. Those damages may cost the store more than $100,000.
An employee and contractor were in the store when the crime took place but neither was harmed. The employee later told 12News he ran next door to Dickey's Barbecue when the vehicle smashed into the front of the gas station.
Employees spent hours after the incident cleaning up glass and boarding up doors.
"It could have been worse," Isaac Hunter, gas station customer, said. "The person could have gotten killed if they had been in the path of that, whatever that vehicle was. It's dangerous."
Customers who stopped by the gas station after hearing about the smash-and-grab were shocked by this crime spree.
"I heard it through the grapevine that somebody had destroyed my store," Hunter said. "I say my store because it's a neighborhood store."
Hunter lives near the gas station and feels uneasy because the suspect is still on the run. He feels the Monday morning crime will become an inconvenience for some people.
"Because now we have to up to 16th street and that's where the congestion is," Hunter said.
Police believe the SUV used in the smash-and-grab is the same SUV that was stolen from the West Orange-Cove CISD building.
A trooper from the Texas Department of Public Safety found the SUV at a dead end on Morrell Boulevard. At this time, the suspects have not been caught and it is unknown how many people were involved in either incident.
Two investigations are underway.
West Orange Police are investigating the burglary of the district transportation building and the stolen SUV because the building is located in the City of West Orange. The City of Orange Police Department is investigating the smash-and-grab that happened at the store because the store is located in Orange.
Employees are rebooting the store's computer system so they can hopefully reopen Tuesday.
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