Local News
Citizen helps catch burglar
Man held for burglary of Elkhart pharmacy
ELKHART — A 39-year-old Palestine man was arrested Wednesday night after authorities say a citizen caught him in the act of burglarizing an Elkhart pharmacy.
As of 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Chet Crawford, 39, of Palestine remained in the Anderson County Jail in lieu of a $35,000 bond on the charge of burglary of a building following his arrest the previous night, according to Anderson County Sheriff Greg Taylor.
The suspect’s bond was set by Anderson County Precinct 2 Justice of the Peace Carl Davis.
Crawford was in a vehicle pulled over by a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper Wednesday night a short time after he had allegedly departed the Elkhart Pharmacy during the commission of a burglary, according to Taylor.
Taylor said authorities found “a big duffle bag filled with Hydrocodone” and other prescription drugs inside the pharmacy which allegedly were left behind by the suspect. The suspect also left behind “pry tools” believed to have been used to gain entry into the business, according to the sheriff.
Hydrocodone is a popular painkiller often used and sold illegally on the street. Street value of a single pill in Palestine is $6, according to the sheriff.
Shortly after 9 p.m. Wednesday, Taylor said representatives of his agency responded to the pharmacy on U.S. 287 in Elkhart after receiving a call of a burglary in progress.
“What had happened was a concerned citizen (who was across the street at Fox Pizza) heard the alarm go off and he ran over there,” Taylor said.
The citizen first witnessed that “the (business’) back door had been peeled up to where they could crawl in” and then “heard somebody rummaging around in there,” according to the sheriff.
“He (the citizen) said, ‘Hey, I’ve got a gun out here. You need to stay put. The law’s on the way,’” Taylor said. “The suspect started pleading, ‘Just let me go.’”
A short time later, the suspect, who was later identified as Crawford, exited the building by crawling back under the back door, according to the sheriff.
“He (the citizen) got a good physical description,” Taylor said, “but the offender fled on foot.”
A second witness reported seeing “a small white car leaving the area” and a vehicle matching the description was stopped a short time later on the “north edge of the (Elkhart) city limits” by DPS Trooper Leonard Sandifer, according to the sheriff.
The vehicle’s three occupants — two males and a female — were detained and brought back to the scene, Taylor said.
“He (Crawford) was positively identified by one of the witnesses as being the subject that was in the pharmacy,” Taylor said.
The other two persons were arrested on Palestine municipal traffic warrants, according to the sheriff, but had not been charged in relation to Wednesday’s burglary as of late Thursday afternoon.
Taylor thanked the citizens who helped authorities quickly make an arrest in the case.
“Alarms do work and, without the help of several concerned citizens, we might not have caught them so soon,” Taylor said. “I appreciate them assisting us.”
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Paul Stone may be contacted via e-mail at pstone@palestineherald.com
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