When a major theft occurred at the nation’s top sports event, HPD investigators responded and put more points on the proverbial scoreboard than the New England Patriots.
We all know the circumstances and what happened. Patriots quarterback Tom Brady led his team to the most exciting come-from-behind Super Bowl victories in the history of the immortal game.
The trouble was someone stole his game jersey in the celebrative aftermath in the locker room.
The date was Feb. 6 and the Major Offenders Division got the call, specifically to Sgt. Terry Seagler and Detective Carol Calabro.
Major Offenders Capt. Dwayne Ready outlined what then happened as he presented the HPOU Investigators of the Month honors to Seagler and Calabro at the Union’s April general membership meeting.
“Seagler and Calabro immediately began tracking down and investigating numerous leads, along with dozens of tips coming in through Crime Stoppers and the Texas Rangers.
“With the assistance of other MOD personnel, several subpoenas were issued for video evidence and material with evidentiary value.”
Calabro traveled to Boston to meet with team security, NFL security and the Boston FBI.
“After a thorough review of the video evidence and a painstaking review of Super Bowl-issued credentials, a suspect – who was already a person of interest through an HPD informant – was developed,” Ready explained.
“Detectives interviewed Tom brady and other members of the Patriot organization and, subsequently, were confident the suspect was the one who committed the theft.”
Further investigation revealed that this suspect resided in Mexico.
Mexican authorities exercised a search warrant, resulting in the suspect handing over Tom Brady’s extremely valuable piece of history sports memorabilia from Super Bowl LI as well as his jersey from Super Bowl XLIX from two years ago.
Ready pointed out that “it was the HPD investigation that revealed the suspect was also in possession of the SB49 jersey, which was stolen in Phoenix in 2015.”
Mexican law enforcement officials handed over both jerseys to the FBI, which in turn ran them through its crime lab in Boston for evidence collection and to be authenticated.
“The suspect faces federal charges for transporting stolen items across the border as well as potential felony theft charges here in Harris County,” Ready explained.
The captain turned to the two honorees and said, “I know you worked tirelessly on this case of national notoriety. Your diligence in solving it reflects well on the entire Houston Police Department. Congratulations on receiving this award for investigators of the month.”
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