TEXAS THEFT RING BROKEN nbc5i.com - News - 16 People Suspected In Central, North Texas Theft Ring
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas -- Sixteen people are suspected in a series of thefts in which items were stolen in Central Texas, then sold in North Texas.

Investigators in the Austin area connected the criminal enterprise to a North Texas man. When police searched his Grand Prairie home, they said they saw in plain view items taken in multiple burglaries committed in Travis and Williamson counties, NBC 5's Kristi Nelson reported.

Police in Round Rock said teenagers were the ringleaders of the criminal enterprise.

"We're talking about over a half million dollars worth of stuff, including cars, computers, recreational vehicles, ATVs, solar panels, construction equipment," said Eric Poteet, of Round Rock Police Department.

Round Rock police said some of the stolen property may have been sold to Nathan Anderson, who owns and operates an Army-Navy store in Grand Prairie.

According to a search warrant affidavit, police saw items at Anderson's home consistent with the stolen property, and police said Anderson discussed the stolen property in a recorded phone call.

But, Anderson's brother, Sheldon Anderson, said Nathan Anderson must not have known the items were hot.

"We're a family of entrepreneurs, not a family of thieves," Sheldon Anderson said.

Police said the investigation was very complicated and involved sixteen people across the state.