North Austin business owner was told by police to gather his own evidence after a burglary at his store
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After the surveillance video was released, the community identified one of the suspects.
AUSTIN, Texas – After multiple thefts and break-ins, a North Austin business owner learned the seriousness of police staffing shortages and the importance of community support during this time.
“My parents started it and now I have it and now I have my two daughters who do it,” said Kirk Andrews.
Andrews doesn’t play around with the legacy of petticoat fair lingerie, and in the past three months, some ugliness has tried to invade its beauty.
“A guy came through the back door, grabbed a clothes rack and jumped into a getaway car,” said Andrews.
This happened twice, so Andrews installed cameras, which used to come in handy.
“I saw him walking around and started watching him,” said Andrews.
Everything was captured on camera. Andrews said 911 directed him to call 311.
“I had no idea how this system of taking information worked,” said Andrews. “It’s not a police report and they are handing it out for a recall so you can actually file a police report.”
Andrew said it took APD almost two weeks to call him back to file a report.
“He basically said shoplifting; we don’t have the manpower to track him down,” said Andrews.
A few days after the report was filed, thieves struck again, but this time it was more expensive.
On Saturday morning, a surveillance video shows a white car driving up, someone shoots out of the window and grabs their clothes before they leave. It happened around 6 a.m. when no one was in the store.
Andrews called APD around 9 a.m. when he saw what had happened.
“They called me again and said no one was coming out and said it was due to COVID restrictions that didn’t make sense to me,” Andrews said.
Andrews said 911 instructed him to call 311 and, to his surprise, said they told him to put on some gloves and look for cartridges and other evidence for the police.
“This is extremely frustrating for me,” said Andrews.
After posting about the break-in on social media, the community, which has supported his business for decades, stepped in and helped identify the suspect in the video.
“That’s the frustrating thing about it, and the fact that I identified who the guy was through social media before I got a call back from the police,” said Andrews.
APD confirmed that they are investigating this suspect. Andrews blames shortages, not individual officers.
“Everyone I’ve spoken to and the department has been helpful,” said Andrews.
In the meantime, Andrews has his window repaired and installs more security.
On October 1, the Austin Police stopped sending sworn officers on certain calls when there was no imminent threat to those involved or a suspect was absent. They said this helped free uniformed officers for more serious calls and emergencies.
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