By Kaitlyn Alanis
The Charlotte Observer
PORT ARTHUR, Texas — Home surveillance video captured a man taking property from a homeowner, Texas police say.
When he got to the lawn mower, he went back for a red gas container, as seen in video shared to Facebook by the Port Arthur Police Department.
The man was then seen fueling the lawn mower late Friday, April 1. After the lawn mower was ready to go, the man put the gas container back and headed for the lawn.
That’s when the man proceeded to mow the homeowner’s front and back yards without permission, police said — though the grass was not all that long to begin with, video shows.
When he got to the front lawn, he is even seen moving a broken post from a white picket fence so he could mow that spot.
The homeowner called police to report a stranger mowing the grass, police said, but when officers arrived, he began running from the area as he dragged the lawn mower with him.
He eventually abandoned the mower in an alley, police said, and he got away.
Police identified the suspect on May 5 and are requesting the public’s help in finding him. Tipsters can call Port Arthur police at 409-983-8600 or Crime Stoppers of Southeast Texas at 409-833-8477.
The video has been viewed more than 4,000 times in about 24 hours, and it prompted several theories — alongside a couple of requests for service.
“I need my grass cut,” one person said. “Tell him to message me.”
“Guess he wanted to make sure it worked before he brought it home,” one person wrote.
“Wait no one told him he was supposed to be making his getaway? Oh, he was checking the cutting height of the mower,” said another.
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