Crime Stoppers Crime of the Week - Lufkin Daily News

What child didn’t hear; “Look with your eyes, not with your hands”? Whether he heard it or not, the suspect in this week’s Crime of the Week decided to put his hands all over someone else’s property and, in doing so, caused hours of work and a lot of money, and could have risked lives.

About 12:20 a.m. Feb. 22, the suspect approached the PHI Air Medical helicopter on the helipad at CHI St. Luke’s Health Memorial hospital in Lufkin. Security video shows that he walked around the helicopter, touching most of the exterior surfaces, pulled on and turned the rotor blades, opened doors and rummaged around inside the cabin. An ambulance driving past seems to have scared away the suspect; he walked away headed westbound on West Frank Avenue.

The security video is available at facebook.com/639TIPS but it doesn’t provide a clear image of the suspect; he arrears to be tall and slim and he was carrying a backpack.

Officers obtained fingerprints from the aircraft but they need to identify the suspect in order to make a comparison.

Because the flight crew had no way of knowing what the suspect did to the helicopter, a maintenance crew was brought to the scene to inspect the aircraft before it could be flown again. The maintenance and downtime cost the company money but the suspect’s actions put the East Texas community at risk by reducing the number of lifesaving air medical helicopters available at that time.

A couple of items were taken from the cabin, so the offenses committed are burglary and criminal mischief. If you can identify the suspect, submit an anonymous tip to Crime Stoppers by calling 639-TIPS or by visiting 639TIPS.com. Calls and tips directly to Crime Stoppers are anonymous and information that leads to an arrest might be eligible for a reward.

Let's block ads! (Why?)