Six arrested in connection to pawn shop looting in East Austin, affidavits say
Six people have been arrested for allegedly taking part in the looting of a EZ Pawn shop on Seventh Street in East Austin.
Austin police received a call shortly before 1 a.m. on Monday about 50 people who were seen inside the store, according to arrest affidavits.
The documents say two people, identified as Tomvonte Moore and Kinnard Floyd Batts, were found lying on the floor of the store when officers arrived and complied with their commands.
“When asked why he entered the store, (Moore) stated, in summary, ‘well everyone else was going to steal stuff,’” the affidavits say.
Police officers were told that five of the people who broke in — four of whom were later located and arrested — were seen leaving the EZ Pawn and heading toward a wooded area close to the scene, the documents say.
The four other suspects have been identified as Jovanni Arriaga, Jose Villegas, Pedro Romero and Eduardo Reyes.
One of the officers who responded to the call said he saw that window panes on the shop’s front entry doors had been broken. A metal gate that was behind the entry doors had also been pried apart, according to the affidavits.
Arrest records stated that the officer found multiple televisions that had been removed and placed near the entryway of the store. The officer also found a watch case that had been broken into, and described that some of the watches were found in and around the EZ Pawn store, the affidavits say.
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