THE GREAT TACO ROBBERY
HEIGHTS COMMUNITY
He Bought Him the Tacos.
An off-duty officer stopped for lunch at a Heights institution. A man walked in and started taking food. What happened next — including what the officer did with his own wallet — says something about this neighborhood.
By Jim Towers, M.J.A. JD.
Houston Heights Independent | Heights Community
Photo: Jim Towers / Houston Heights Independent
He had come from a staff meeting that morning. Stopped at Chalios for lunch on the way through the neighborhood — one of the Heights institutions he'd been walking into for years. He knew the staff. They knew him. And because they knew him, they always tried to give him something — a discount, free tacos, free coffee. He didn't want that. So before he went in, he took off the uniform shirt and the duty rig, left them in the car. Went in as a civilian. Black T-shirt, duty pants, boots. Backup weapon on his ankle, but nobody needed to know that.
He was sitting at his table when the man walked in.
Past the register. Past the staff trying to redirect him. Straight into the food. Tacos. Sodas. Whatever he wanted — taking it and eating it in front of a full dining room. Staff couldn't stop him. Customers sat frozen. Nobody moved.
He got up and walked to his car.
He put the shirt on. Buckled the duty rig. Called it in to dispatch while he was dressing — because that's how you work a one-man scene. Then he walked back inside.
The man saw him the moment he came through the door. Froze.
The officer looked at him and said: "That's enough."
He walked up, took the man's hand, and cuffed him. No struggle. No words. The man complied. The room erupted in applause.
"It's all over, folks. Nothing to see. Everything's under control."
He asked the staff what the man had taken. Three tacos and a soda. He picked up the food, took his subject, and walked out the back.
[PHOTO: HPD unit on scene — lights running]
Photo: Jim Towers / Houston Heights Independent
OUT BACK
They went out behind Cholisos — away from the street, away from the public line of sight. He sat his subject down on the steps in the shade. Moved the cuffs from behind to front so the man could sit comfortably. Then he set the tacos and the soda in front of him.
While he waited for a non-emergency unit, he filled out the criminal trespass form. Completed it.
By the time HPD arrived, the man had finished his meal.
Getting him into the squad car was another matter. The subject resisted — actively, fighting the cuffs — and the officer stepped in to assist. The officer traded the cuffs, helped the HPD officer work the subject into the vehicle, and secured the door. The criminal trespass was read to the subject. Management signed it. The officer signed it. The HPD officer signed it. The restaurant had a copy behind the counter. He took it back inside and left a copy at the front counter. Paid for the three tacos and the soda the man ate and left his card.
The HPD officer, running the call, told him something before he left. About thirty minutes before this, the same subject had jumped the counter at the Shipley's Do-Nuts on Main — grabbed donuts, juice, water, coffee — and eaten it in front of staff who couldn't stop him. Then he walked down to Chalios and did it again.
THE QUESTION
The HPD officer asked him why he bought the man the tacos.
He thought about it for a moment.
"The underlying crime — even though it's wrong — was that he was stealing food. I'm Catholic. I'm from the Heights. It's wrong to deny a hungry man food. I was able to take care of it. And at least he had something to eat that day."
That's what happened at the taqueria on a Tuesday afternoon. The officer went back inside and finished his coffee. I know this is all true and correct as to what happened. Because I was there, I took these photos, and I was the officer, and I did go back inside and finish my coffee.
Photo: Jim Towers / Houston Heights Independent
Sources: On-scene reporting and photography by Jim Towers / HHI. HPD dispatch record. Criminal trespass documentation. Arrest record.
Jim Towers, MJA, J.D., . is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of the Houston Heights Independent. He is a retired Texas Master Peace Officer with 34 years of law enforcement experience, a licensed Texas private investigator, and a certified expert witness.
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