The Victim: Andrew Wages

The Crime: Theft

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Date: Friday, Aug. 9

Time: Between midnight and 4:45 a.m.

Location: 2400 block of Hillside

It was a hail of a theft.

Like many North Texans, Andrew Wages’s home was hammered by hail in the series of storms that ripped across the area recently. Hail caused roof damage, roofers were called, and a delivery of shingles sat in his front driveway to be attached to his roof the next day.

“This whole Lakewood area got hit by the hail pretty good,” he says. “I haven’t seen many roofs in this area that haven’t been replaced.”

The night before his roof repair, a pallet of shingles was stolen from the front yard of a neighbor across the street. Wages says he asked police what he should do protect his own shingles, and was told to pull his car up close to the pallet and keep an exterior light on near them.

Wages did just that, but came out the next day to see that 75 percent of his shingles had been stolen. He estimates the roofing company lost around $6,000 in shingles. And while the loss didn’t hit him directly (the roofing company was responsible for the shingles), he says it’s a creepy feeling knowing someone just came onto his property and stole something.

Despite the crime, his new shingles are now in place, and his roof looks fine.

Dallas Police Sgt. Keitric Jones of the Northeast Patrol Division says the recent hailstorms caused a massive increase in roofing repairs throughout the city resulting in a greater number of construction workers, supplies and equipment in the area within the last six weeks.

“At no time should supplies, equipment, or anything of value be left unattended or unsecured. The crime of theft is a crime of opportunity. Reducing or eliminating the opportunity for theft is the most effective way to prevent theft.”

 

| crime numbers |

 $20,000

Estimated value of a GMC Safari Van and the cleaning equipment it contained that was stolen from the 1200 block of Abrams at 8 a.m. Aug. 20

 

3 a.m.

Time on Aug. 30 when a 2008 Chevrolet Cobalt valued at $7,000 was stolen from an apartment complex on the 7000 block of Gaston

 

2

Number of violent sexual attacks that happened in a two-week time frame: On Sept. 10 an assailant knocked on the apartment door of a woman on the 5800 block of Martel, forced her inside at gunpoint, raped her and stole her property; on Sept. 2 a very similar event took place at an apartment in the 5400 block of Gaston

 

Source: Dallas Police Department