YOUCOULDN’TTAKE A SEAT;THEY WEREMISSING.

Pedro Tucker is a local carpenter. His company does cabinets, doors, home additions, renovations — you name it. Business has been steady lately despite the economic slowdown. He works hard, and appreciates the simple things in his life.

One of those things is loading up his grandchildren in his 1997 Chevrolet Suburban and heading off to the Barnes

The Crime: Burglary of a motor vehicle/auto accessory theft

Date: Monday, May 16

Time: Between 1 a.m. and 6 a.m.

Location: 10400 block of Robindale

2828 Routh Street, Suite 700 214-871-2201

and Noble across from NorthPark Center. He and the grandchildren enjoy reading, checking out the books, and even munching on pieces of cake from the café.

The Suburban recently became a bit more difficult for his grandkids to ride in, however. The third-row seat was stolen while the car sat in the front of his Lake Highlands North home.

“I just came out in the morning to go to work and noticed they had broken into the car,” Tucker says. “They don’t make an after-market third-row seat for that car, so it’s a pretty hot item. I didn’t feel too bad because the TV and DVD players were still there, and the wheels were still there, too.”

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3

$1,000

SOURCE: Dallas Police Department

A few years back, he also had a trailer, tools and side-view car mirrors stolen.

To buy a new seat, prices range from $1,100 for a new one to $600-700 online for used, the irony being that many of those online may have been stolen, Tucker notes. He has had trouble locating a seat so far that matches the color of his other seats.

“It’s been a real inconvenience because that third-row seat made it easy to take all our grandkids around,” he says.

Dallas Police Sgt. Keitric Jones of the Northeast Patrol Division says typical burglaries like this occur at night, and the best way to prevent them is to park in a garage if possible or in a well-lit area, or install a car alarm. He says the department does investigate this type of stolen property.

“DPD has a unit designed to track businesses that buy or sell stolen property. This unit’s main responsibility is to have a good working relationship with the owners of these businesses. Therefore, if stolen goods are taken to one of their businesses, we will be contacted,” he says.

This type of crime has been slightly on the rise this year in the Northeast Patrol Division. From January to June this year, the department has investigated 25-30 burglaries of motor vehicles involving the theft of rear seats. For the same time in 2010, the department investigated only about 10. —SEAN CHAFFIN

BLOCK OF FAIR OAKS WHERE A 6-MONTH-OLD BLUE MASTIFF PUPPY NAMED YAK WAS STOLEN FROM AN APARTMENTCOMPLEX