It is hard to believe but Thanksgiving is next week. With Thanksgiving, comes the official kick-off of the Holiday Shopping season starting with Black Friday. While no one knows exactly how this year’s shopping season will end up because of the COVID-19 restrictions and fears, we do know that the criminals will be working harder than ever.

We anticipate a considerable increase in the use of on-line shopping. That will result in a plethora of packages being delivered. We are already seeing a significant increase in deliveries here in the villages. Delivery drivers are showing up at 7 am and starting to drop off packages. Our evening teams are seeing vans and trucks out as late as 9 pm at night. 

This week we have responded to several calls of suspicious vehicles and people moving items and packages between vehicles. We have determined that some of the delivery drivers are in rented vans and SUV’s and are being resupplied with deliveries from larger rental trucks. Often these vehicles are not marked and are meeting up in parking lots or in a few cases at the end of a cul-de-sac where they are loading up the smaller vans with more area deliveries. We are also seeing packages being left at the wrong home and the drivers returning to get them after they realize their error. 

We have a number of homes that do not have clearly visible house numbers which is adding to the delivery problems. House numbers on curbs, mailboxes, garages or near the front door can help on many different fronts. From ensuring that you receive your deliveries, to helping emergency responders find your home should an incident occur requiring police, fire or EMS. This is a good time for everyone to ensure that your house numbers are clearly visible.

As for the packages, please make sure that you promptly remove deliveries as soon as possible.  Most on-line merchants offer tracking services of items. Take advantage of this option so you know when items are being delivered and either quickly retrieve them or have a neighbor or friend get them for you.  Other options include having items delivered to your place of employment or to a third-party service provider such as an Amazon Hub location. Learn more about this service at the following web page: https://www.amazon.com/b/?node=19181610011

If you are planning on heading out of town for Thanksgiving, please make sure that your home is on the house watch list. You can let us know either by registering on-line on our web page www.mvpdtx.org or give us a call at 713-365-3700 

This has been another active week for our officers and dispatchers staying busy with our regular calls for service.  This week MVPD staff have responded to and/or investigated the following incidents:

Assist Village EMS: 10

Assist Village Fire: 8

Vehicle Accidents: 6

Alarms: 34

ALPR Notifications: 20

Found Property: 3

Harassment Calls: 2

House-watches: 795

Suspicious situations: 30

Parking Issues: 3

Traffic Violations: 55

Traffic Concerns: 4

Great work by our professional staff handling these incidents and dozens more of unique situations, (read about one of them below involving a reported stolen vehicle), plus their proactive work of moving packages out of view, community contacts and backing up other agencies when requested.

On Thursday morning a resident and her children stopped by the MVPD and provided breakfast tacos to our day-shift employees. The welcomed surprise visit was enjoyed by staff. Thank you

COVID-19 continues to be a challenge for all of us across Harris County. Our dispatch team has been staying busy keeping us updated with the ever-changing list of area households that have someone present who is COVID-19 positive. As we continue to be in this time of high transmission rates it is even more important than ever to continue to practice good preventive measures. The proper wearing of face masks, social distancing, frequent hand washing, and disinfecting of frequently touched items are all imperative.  The good news is that it is looking like a viable vaccine may soon be available. Staff from Village Fire along with Village officials and us here at the MVPD remain in close contact with health officials and will assist as needed for vaccine distribution when that time comes.  More to come on that topic as soon as we know. 

Have a great weekend. Chief Ray Schultz rschultz@mvpdtx.org 

Weekly Crime Report

Hunters Creek

11/16/20 at 0345 Hours. 600 Voss. Recovered Stolen Vehicle. Officers were alerted to a stolen vehicle entering the Villages on Voss.  Officers were nearby and quickly located and stopped the vehicle. The driver stated that he was in the process of purchasing the vehicle, however, he did not know the complete name of the person who he was buying the car from.  The owner of the vehicle was contacted and stated that he had given the vehicle to a friend to sell for him back in June, but never heard back from the subject. The owner did not know who the driver of the vehicle was. The owner declined to press charges and only wanted his vehicle back. The vehicle was towed from the scene and the driver was released pending future charges.

11/16/20 at 1230 Hours. 1-100 block of Sleepy Oaks. Theft/Fraud/Forgery.  The victim reported receiving notice that a bill that he had paid to a business, was not received by them. The victim knew that he had paid the invoice by mailing a check to the business. A review of his bank statement found that several checks that he had written to various businesses had been intercepted from the mail and altered to the name of someone else and for differing amounts. The checks had been mailed at one of 2 area mailboxes. Information about the checks was obtained and provided to detectives.  It appears that the checks had been altered and cashed by a male suspect who was found to be a postal employee.  Detectives are working with the US Postal Inspectors on the case.

11/17/20 at 1515 Hours. 200 Voss Road. Recovered Stolen Vehicle/Insurance Scam. Officers were alerted to a stolen vehicle entering the villages on Voss Road. Officers were nearby and initiated a traffic stop on the 2017 Kia. The vehicle was occupied by 3 females who stated that they had borrowed the vehicle from a sister who was buying the vehicle from a friend for $1600. The registered owner was contacted and stated that she did not know the subjects and that the vehicle had been stolen. Through investigation it was determined that the “friend” had actually conspired with the registered owner to report the vehicle as stolen in order to claim insurance. The vehicle had been registered in Indiana and had Indiana license plates so they thought it would not be located here in Texas.  Officers determined the 3 females in the car did not know of the fraud or vehicle status. The vehicle was towed, and the original Constables agency notified of the fraud/conspiracy for their follow-up investigation. 

11/19/20 at 1145 Hours. 10600 Block of Tarrington. Fraud.  The victim reported receiving information in the mail of an overdue balance on an account from 2016. The victim had reported the incident back then to the company and had thought the incident was resolved along with several other fraudulent credit card accounts. The company requested a police report. A report was completed and provided to detectives for follow up as needed with the business. 

Bunker Hill

11/17/20 at 1245 Hours. 1-100 block of Norvell Court. Fraud.  The victim reported that a check that she had issued had been altered, reissued to, and cashed by a subject that she did not know or write the check to. Information about the check and the individual who cashed the check was obtained and provided to detectives who are following up on the incident.

11/19/20 at 0745 Hours. 11600 Block of Memorial Drive. Recovered Stolen Property. Officers were dispatched to the area in reference to 2 golf carts being seen at an abandoned home in the area. Upon arrival officers located the golf carts parked in the rear of the property.  A check of the golf carts found that one had been stolen from an apartment complex on Briar Forest. The owner of the second golf cart could not be located. One was returned to the owner and the other one towed. Detectives are reviewing area video coverage for additional information.

Piney Point

11/19/20 at 1630 Hours. Jeffers Court at Piney Point Road. Recovered Stolen Vehicle. Officers were notified of a stolen vehicle entering the villages on Beinhorn at Pifer. Officers were in the area and located the vehicle on Piney Point. Upon stopping the vehicle officers learned that the owner was driving the vehicle. The driver admitted that he had reported the vehicle stolen to HPD after his girlfriend had taken the vehicle without his permission. The girlfriend was in the vehicle at the time of the traffic stop by officers. The vehicle was removed from the stolen vehicle database. The driver was left at the scene attempting to explain to his girlfriend as to why he had reported the vehicle stolen by her. No further action was necessary.  

Texas Workforce Commission Fraud Cases

11/19/20 at 1045 Hours. 11600 Block of Greenbay. Officers notified of a fraudulent application for unemployment using the victim’s personal information.