Thieves Steal House Brick By Brick For Three Months Unnoticed
News Edition: 03/28/2005
LINDALE, TX-— When Smith County Constable Dennis Taylor got a call reporting a stolen house, his first question was, "Is it a trailer house, ma'am?"
"No, it's a brick house," the real estate company representative replied.
Board by board, shingle by shingle, for nearly three months, thieves dismantled a three-bedroom brick house in this East Texas town and carted it away until only a pile of rubble was left.
Authorities allege Brandon Ray Parmer, 29, and Darrell Patrick Maxfield, 44, both of Tyler, took the house apart and sold it for drugs, in plain view of everyone cruising by along Lindale's main street.
Taylor said the men worked slowly and haphazardly in daylight, with no one questioning their work, because everyone assumed it was the work of two large retail stores laying new foundations nearby.
"It's the strangest case I've ever worked in my life," Taylor said. "Everybody drove by and waved at them."
Authorities also arrested Jesse Gino Vega, 36, who is accused of giving cash and methamphetamine to the other two men in exchange for the materials from the home.
Officers got "about five trailer loads of property that came out of that house," Taylor said, then paused. "Well, it didn't come out of the house. It was the house." |
