Lufkin Police Arrest Two Siblings for String of Burglaries
According to a release from the Lufkin Police Department, officials arrested two siblings tied to numerous vehicle burglaries after interrupting one of them stealing a vehicle stereo at Deerwood I Apartments early this morning in the 100 block of Champions Drive.
Manuel Rivera (left in picture), 34, and his brother, Miguel Rivera, 26, were taken into custody around 12:30 a.m. following a report of a man breaking into someone’s Jeep.
Officers arrived to find Manuel with a flashlight on the driver’s side of the Jeep. As the officer approached in her unit, Manuel fled on foot. She began chasing him on foot while identifying herself as a police officer and telling him to stop. He ran across U.S. 59 and onto the Angelina College campus behind Temple Theater.
That is where another officer cut Manuel off and took him into custody. Manuel was then searched, leading to the discovery of multiple items reported stolen from several different vehicle burglaries over the past week. Those items included: an undisclosed amount of cash, 3 white headphones, 1 car charger, 1 black wallet, 1 brown pair of Ray-Ban sunglasses, 2 lighters, 1 black cellphone, 2 silver necklaces, 2 black watches, 2 knives, cigarette butts, 1 black flashlight, 1 yellow key chain, 1 bronze key chain with a pink Hello Kitty house key, an AT&T sim card, assorted scratch-off tickets, assorted coupons, assorted business cards, assorted receipts, Busykid debit card, BBVA debit card, and Venmo debit card. Manuel was also in possession of K2.
The owner of the Jeep checked his vehicle after Manuel’s arrest and found his dash damaged and his stereo hanging by a few wires. He said his rearview mirror and a rosary were also removed. Officers found the rosary in Manuel’s possession at the time of his arrest.
While processing the scene, officers noticed that Manuel’s phone kept ringing and it was a “Miguel” calling him. That led officers to believe that there may be another person involved in the incident. Upon asking the owner of the Jeep if he saw anyone else in the parking lot at the time of the burglary, he said he saw another man who seemed to be acting suspiciously.
Officers began searching the parking lot and surrounding area for an additional suspect and found a Chevy Impala with dark tinted windows that matched the description of the suspect vehicle in some of the previous burglaries including one in which shots were fired. That is when they found Miguel sitting inside the vehicle and detained him.
A search of the vehicle uncovered multiple items reported stolen in several other burglaries including a passport, a driver’s license, and a social security card, two toolboxes with tools, multiple debit/credit cards, clothing, purses, wallets, handbag, and paperwork with other people's names on them. Miguel was then taken into custody.
Manuel is charged with two counts of fraudulent use/possession of identifying information, evading arrest, possession of a dangerous drug, possession of a controlled substance and burglary of a vehicle while Miguel is charged with two counts of fraudulent use/possession of identifying information and burglary of a vehicle.