Last Friday, a couple guys known by Dallas police for robbing people of their valuables, pulled into the parking lot at the White Rock Lake Dog Park on Mockingbird Lane. One jumped out of the passenger side, smashed the window of a parked car, grabbed the property inside and hopped back into the suspect car as the driver sped away.
Little did the two know that as they committed the crime they were under police surveillance.
Undercover officers from the northeast police division were at White Rock Lake that afternoon as part of a burglary of motor vehicle (BMV) initiative, as the park is a hotspot for this type of crime. (Full disclosure: I should know; thieves hit my car there a few years ago.)
Police recognized the suspect vehicle, they say. The men inside it — Anthony Osborne, 32, and Joshua McMillan, 22 — allegedly are no BMV newbies.
After fleeing the scene, the covert police followed the suspects and called for backup, including Air 1, the Dallas Police Department helicopter.
Suspect Osborne
When uniformed officers gave chase, the suspects escaped, but only temporarily. Police located the men in the Vickery Meadow area, after which the police helicopter followed them all the way to south Dallas, where the men exited the car and ran on foot before cops from both the northeast and southeast divisions nabbed them.
Turns out the smash and grab that police witnessed was one of many.
“The officers found property of ten different victims in the suspect vehicle,” police report. “All of the BMV offenses occurred on Aug. 5 between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. All of the victim’s were contacted and recovered their stolen property.”
A rare happy ending for victims of a BMV.
Police charged Osborne and McMillan with BMVs, evading arrest and fraudulent use of identifying information. Osborne will be held on a probation violation. McMillan’s record was not available at this time.
