Crooks shoot at Texas man after he tries to stop them from breaking into his work vehicles. Of course he fires right back.



At least two wannabe burglars shot at a Texas man after he ventured outside to stop them from breaking into his work vehicles earlier this week — and he fired right back.

Pablo Covarrubias told KTRK-TV his 19-year-old son woke him up just after 1 a.m. Sunday and told him the suspects were trying to break into two vehicles he uses for his HVAC company.

'I think next time they'll think twice, hopefully, that you just can't go around taking people's property.'

"There was no time to react. I mean, I just had my pistol right there on the side of my bed. I got up," Covarrubias told the station, which added that the incident took place in the Meadows of Clear Creek subdivision of southeast Harris County.

KTRK said surveillance video shows Covarrubias walking outside with his son — and only making it a few steps before the suspects open fire.

The station said Covarrubias returned fire, and the suspects sped away in what he believes is a black BMW.

KTRK said one of the bullets hit a jack-o'-lantern on Covarrubias' porch, but it's unclear if his own shots hit anything.

"We don't know if the perpetrators, the suspects, were hit," Sgt. Hector Vega with the Harris County Precinct 2 Constable's Office told the station, which added that the suspects haven't been identified.

Covarrubias noted to KTRK he that hopes his shots, if nothing else, served as a wake-up call to the bad guys.

"I think next time they'll think twice, hopefully, that you just can't go around taking people's property," he told the station.

You can view a video report here about the incident, which includes a surveillance clip showing the shootout.

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Longtime California family business folds up tents over recent spike in crime, moves to Alabama where they've found 'hard-working people just living their life'



A longtime California family business grew so tired of the spike in break-ins, thefts, vandalism, and other crimes against their Bay Area laundromats that they folded up their tents recently and moved to Alabama — which is refreshingly full of "hard-working people just living their life," Derek Drake told KGO-TV.

What are the details?

Drake and his family have owned laundromats in the East Bay for decades, KGO said, adding that Drake's father Art Thoms — a former Oakland Raiders football player — told Drake "my teammates laughed at me when I started buying laundromats 45 years ago."

However, the well-documented spike in crime in the Bay Area of late changed the business perspective of Drake's family.

Image source: KGO-TV video screenshot

"This is my sixth year of ownership [at his Lake Merritt laundromat], and I can't remember a time in the first five years where anybody ever tried to break in," Drake told KGO during a Zoom interview.

Image source: KGO-TV video screenshot

"Three out of past four nights people have tried to get into my laundromat — out of four nights ... that's crazy!" he added to the station.

Drake shared numerous surveillance videos with KGO, including one that shows a driver ramming a truck through another laundromat's front window and stealing the ATM.

Image source: KGO-TV video screenshot

"That was about a $30,000 bill on that one," Drake told the station.

In another clip just days later, crooks are seen prying open the change machine, KGO noted.

"I got hit for $5,000 in just cash," he recalled to the station while recalling one of the thieves struggling to hold a newly heavy backpack — a moment that sometimes elicits a chuckle: "It's pretty comical to watch them run across the street with a bag of quarters."

Image source: KGO-TV video screenshot

Drake told KGO he tried going cashless — but to no avail, as more videos showed break-ins continuing unabated, including one that captured a crowbar-wielding woman trying to pry open an office door.

Image source: KGO-TV video screenshot

Alabama getaway

So Drake and his whole family left for Alabama in June, the station said.

Image source: KGO-TV video screenshot

The difference was noticeable, he added to KGO: "It's just hard-working people just living their life."

More from KGO:

Derek's family isn't alone. California's population fell by more than 180,000 in 2020 and has declined two years in a row. While the numbers of people who left the state are still a tiny percentage of the total population, Derek says many of his friends have plans to leave too, citing similar difficulties.
There are more people leaving California than those moving in. Many are wondering if the California Dream is still alive.

Drake's family just sold their Berkeley laundromat, and they're thinking about doing the same with their Oakland location, the station said, as they try to build up their business in Alabama.

$3.2M worth of 'irreplaceable' books discovered buried in Romania after daring 2017 London heist

Scores of rare books have been recovered in Romania more than three years after criminals absconded with them during a brazen London warehouse caper.