Houston Area Vacuum Thief

[Mattwash]

Hello, I am a new car wash owner and just had my first vacuum thief. On the morning of May 18 this male and his accomplice spent several hours before they were able to cut the lock off with a torch and then pry open the coin drawer. He initially spent about 30 min trying to pick the lock before using a MAPP Gas Torch. I have good cameras so I was fortunate to get a good image of the man’s license plate.

I called the cops and showed them the footage. Officer ran the plates and the license plate came back stolen off a vehicle. The officer decided to rummage through my trash can to see if there was any evidence. We found a registration sticker. Ran the vin number, it too came back stolen. Two days later I received a call from a Dickinson Police detective, who told me the man was caught at another car wash in South Houston driving the stolen truck. Shortly after the detective called me to provide the good news, he received another call from HPD saying charges were being dropped by Harris County DA and man was released from jail.

This thief had come over to my car wash the day before and scoped out the locks on my vacuums and coin changer. If you’re in the Houston Area, be on the lookout. The man’s name is Perry Matlock and he lives in South Houston. Idk if he was able to get the stolen truck back when he was released from jail, but the truck he was driving was a 2022 GMC Denali - Black. Here are the images. He is a career criminal, please share if you’re in the Houston Area.

 

[Mattwash]

Another image of Perry Matlock and his truck.

Hello, I am a new car wash owner and just had my first vacuum thief. On the morning of May 18 this male and his accomplice spent several hours before they were able to cut the lock off with a torch and then pry open the coin drawer. He initially spent about 30 min trying to pick the lock before using a MAPP Gas Torch. I have good cameras so I was fortunate to get a good image of the man’s license plate.

I called the cops and showed them the footage. Officer ran the plates and the license plate came back stolen off a vehicle. The officer decided to rummage through my trash can to see if there was any evidence. We found a registration sticker. Ran the vin number, it too came back stolen. Two days later I received a call from a Dickinson Police detective, who told me the man was caught at another car wash in South Houston driving the stolen truck. Shortly after the detective called me to provide the good news, he received another call from HPD saying charges were being dropped by Harris County DA and man was released from jail.

This thief had come over to my car wash the day before and scoped out the locks on my vacuums and coin changer. If you’re in the Houston Area, be on the lookout. The man’s name is Perry Matlock and he lives in South Houston. Idk if he was able to get the stolen truck back when he was released from jail, but the truck he was driving was a 2022 GMC Denali - Black. Here are the images. He is a career criminal, please share if you’re in the Houston Area.

 

[Randy]

So how much do you think he got in this break in? We pull money every morning.

 

[Mattwash]

So how much do you think he got in this break in? We pull money every morning.

Not much. I pulled money the day prior. The real loss is the damages to the money box.

I just wanted to raise awareness to those in the Houston area bc Perry was arrested 2 days later at another car wash in South Houston. Only to be released from Harris County jail and charges dropped.

 

[AZcarwashman]

I’ve been in the business for 20 years and have seen it all when it comes to this crap. Sorry for your issue. There’s so much crime in this country now, that little things like this (not to us of course) are not taken as seriously by those in charge as they should be. My only hope, is there’s a special place in Hell for these POS’s.

 

[MEP001]

There’s so much crime in this country now, that little things like this (not to us of course) are not taken as seriously by those in charge as they should be.

They've actually decriminalized this. It used to be a felony if they caused enough damage and was still considered burglary breaking and entering, now it's criminal mischief which is a misdemeanor, so even if someone is caught in the act he may not go to jail at all.

 

[OurTown]

They go to jail for it here.

 

[Mattwash]

I’ve been in the business for 20 years and have seen it all when it comes to this crap. Sorry for your issue. There’s so much crime in this country now, that little things like this (not to us of course) are not taken as seriously by those in charge as they should be. My only hope, is there’s a special place in Hell for these POS’s.

Hate seeing it. Figured since I was a new car wash owner, I would share some photos of the burglar in case he comes around to their wash. Considering how many car washes are in the Houston area, its guaranteed he will strike again

 

[Randy]

So far this year we have lost 2 $6000 combo vac's and had another one ripped from the vac island, that guy got scared off by the clean up guy. We keep track of the number of times we call the police and so far this year we are up to 16 calls.

 

[Mattwash]

That is crazy! Prior to this, my biggest issue was illegal dumping.

Where is your car wash located?

 

[AZcarwashman]

So far this year we have lost 2 $6000 combo vac's and had another one ripped from the vac island, that guy got scared off by the clean up guy. We keep track of the number of times we call the police and so far this year we are up to 16 calls.

You make a good point, if they’re stealing the whole vac and not just break in, maybe hide an Apple AirTag of some type of tracker in the vac. These trackers are cheap and may help in locating the thieves. Nothing I love more than getting a car wash thief arrested and jail time. So far my top one was a 2 year prison stint. Next best is currently serving an 18 month. It never ends.

 

[MEP001]

AirTags are great, but they're useless without an iPhone nearby. A real GPS tracker under a plastic dome would be better, you'd just have to keep the batteries replaced. I'm sure the tracker's signal can't escape from under a stainless dome or the coin box.

 

[AZcarwashman]

True on a iPhone or I device needing to be close by, but they are pretty much everywhere. I do keep an AirTag in a thick walled gun safe and no issues with it transmitting (hopefully it’s only” location. Nice thing is the long battery life.

 

[AZcarwashman]

Great Monday morning! Since I hate all thieves, I really protect my washes from them, down to locking and alarming the vacuum dirt clean out. Well, the usual dirtbag that we all see roll into the lot, who has no reason to be there, did at one of my locations this morning. He proceeded to cut the lock on a Fragramatic vac. In doing so, he set off the alarm. He quickly stole the plastic dirt catcher with maybe .75 in lose change threw it in his truck and began to drive away. As he exited the wash, his truck died and last I saw on camera was him pushing it down the road. . About 10 minutes later my GM showed up at that location, drove around and spotted the truck and called Phoenix PD. Officers arrived, made the man exit his truck at gunpoint and arrested him for commercial burglary. All over a vacuum dirt trap that had a padlock on it. Such a great day bagging another POS regardless of how small the crime.

 

[MEP001]

That's awesome. Thank your local PD for me. The local ones won't arrest someone for that anymore.

 

[OurTown]

Great Monday morning! Since I hate all thieves, I really protect my washes from them, down to locking and alarming the vacuum dirt clean out. Well, the usual dirtbag that we all see roll into the lot, who has no reason to be there, did at one of my locations this morning. He proceeded to cut the lock on a Fragramatic vac. In doing so, he set off the alarm. He quickly stole the plastic dirt catcher with maybe .75 in lose change threw it in his truck and began to drive away. As he exited the wash, his truck died and last I saw on camera was him pushing it down the road. . About 10 minutes later my GM showed up at that location, drove around and spotted the truck and called Phoenix PD. Officers arrived, made the man exit his truck at gunpoint and arrested him for commercial burglary. All over a vacuum dirt trap that had a padlock on it. Such a great day bagging another POS regardless of how small the crime.

That's straight car wash owner gold right there. We are all smiling. We have a few stories like that and have an awesome local police department.