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Family's moving truck stolen after arriving in Katy from Chicago
FOX 26 Reporter Natalie Hee spoke with the family about the theft and the situation left behind for the family.
KATY, Texas - It was a harsh Houston welcome for one Chicago family after their entire U-haul moving truck was stolen this weekend.
It happened around 4:40 a.m. Saturday at the Brea Luxury Apartments off Peek Rd in Katy.
The family says they have been staying there temporarily while their new home was being built.
"We woke up Saturday and my wife said, ‘the U-haul’s not out front,' and I thought she was joking because I had the keys in my hand," said Steve Smith.
Memorial Day weekend was supposed to be the big move-in day for the Smith's to their newly built home in Katy.
Instead, the Chicago family was met with a harsh Houston welcome when their entire U-haul truck with priceless items inside, was stolen.
"A 15-foot box truck from U-haul, and we had parked it in a parking space right in front of our apartment. Scary thing was it’s about 50 feet away from where our kids were all sleeping on mattresses," Smith said.
"There were somewhere between 8-10 boxes on the truck. Baby clothes, baby albums, lots of personal things," Smith continued.
Surveillance video from a neighbor captures the thieves driving the U-haul right off the lot around 4:40 a.m. Saturday.
Smith said he’d been moving big furniture items throughout the week and started to get paranoid.
"We started to think well was somebody watching us? They obviously planned it," Smith said.
Two days later, deputies informed the family their U-haul had been found abandoned in Cypress. The wheels stolen, padlock destroyed, and the insides torn apart, with only a few of their precious valuables left behind for the family to retrieve.
"There was some ultrasound pictures of our son, kindergarten pictures, some old baby toys that were kind of sentimental, so we were happy to get those back," Smith continued.
However, Smith said the worst part is the stuff they’ve yet to realize is lost forever.
"That’s kind of a sickening feeling to know that we’re eventually going to put all this away and we’re going to realize what was missing. Hopefully, it isn’t something we can’t replace," Smith said.
BH Management, who oversees the Brea Luxury Apartments issued a statement in response to the incident.
"Our community’s safety is always our top priority. We are saddened that this occurred here and are cooperating fully with the ongoing law enforcement investigation."
The Harris County Sheriff’s Office said at least one other car was stolen from the parking lot Tuesday morning. So far, no suspects have been identified in either case.