A burglary suspect in Brownsville got stuck in a window, according to police.
According to Brownsville Police Department records, Samuel Mendez was arrested Tuesday for the offense of burglary of a habitation. Mendez was arraigned Wednesday and his bond was set at $30,000, which was not posted and so he was transported to Cameron County’s Carrizales-Rucker Detention Center in Olmito, said Investigator Martin Sandoval, the department’s public information officer.
Police received a call at approximately 6:40 p.m. Tuesday about a burglary in-progress in the 2100 block of Los Ebanos.
Upon arrival the officer’s made contact with the callers and Mendez, police said.
“When officers got there, the (callers) advised they had a person detained on the side of the house,” Sandoval told The Brownsville Herald. “So when the officers went over there, Mendez was sitting on the side of the house. Officers detained him, and then they started to getting the story about what occurred.”
The callers told officers that they came to check on the house since their father was not home. They heard some noises coming from the side of the house, and when they went to check, they noticed Mendez was coming out of a broken window, Sandoval said.
Mendez apparently got stuck “when he was coming out, but (the police report) doesn’t really specify if it was his legs outside or his head outside,” Sandoval said.
Articles of clothing and a shotgun belonging to the callers’ father were recovered nearby Mendez, Sandoval said.
And how did the callers allegedly detain the suspect until police arrived?
“He had used a 2-by-4 to break the window,” Sandoval said. “So they grabbed that 2-by-4 and told not to move or otherwise he was going to get hit. And Mendez just didn’t move.”
Police advise anyone in a similar position to take care when dealing with intruders, who could be armed and dangerous, Sandoval said.
“First thing is to call us. We will be out there and take care of the burglary,” Sandoval said. “We tell people, property is not worth your life because we are not sure if the burglar is armed or not armed.
“We do not want people out there and taking this into their own hands.”
