APD: If your home has been burglarized in South Austin, this man is most likely responsible
AUSTIN, Texas - Police have arrested a man accused of burglarizing homes in South Austin.
In some of those cases - he was caught on surveillance cameras.
Investigators say 49-year-old George Rodriguez is responsible for more than 20 burglaries. "Over the course of a couple of weeks now we've kind of noticed a trend in South Austin."
Sergeant Matthew Sanders with the burglary unit at the Austin Police Department says this man is responsible for at least 20 break-ins in the South Austin area. "They're going to see your story and they're going to believe that this guy that did their burglary and it's really possible. If they live in this area that it was him,” Sgt. Sanders says.
If 49-year-old George Rodriguez looks familiar, it's because earlier this week FOX 7 Austin received these videos showing what appears to be the same man burglarizing this home in October and this one on December 7th. Sgt. Sanders says, "Yesterday we started a proactive search for the suspect."
While the Austin Police Department was looking for Rodriguez Thursday morning, he was in the middle of burglarizing two other homes, which is why he's behind bars right now.
Rodriguez has a lengthy rap sheet with multiple burglary and assault charges dating all the way back to 1987. Between 1987 and 2010 according to court records he's been charged for at least 8 counts of burglary. FOX 7 Austin has had sources say Rodriguez is a very calm and happy person, but they think he simply hasn't learned his lesson.
His criminal timeline proves that. And APD says he's on parole for burglary. Police were able to retrieve those items taken on Thursday, but for many folks that hasn't been the case yet. This includes Eren Medrano and Chelsea Prush, they both had their homes burglarized these past couple of months and they live less than a mile and a half away from each other.
Sgt. Sanders says, "It's going to take us a long time to go through property and contact victims."
APD says they didn't know until Rodriguez was detained, that he planned on fleeing the area. Sgt. Sanders said it's not a hurdle the department couldn't have overcome, if Rodriguez left town. "We want people to be the best witnesses they can. Contact police immediately, but get yourself in a position where you're safe. Either in a public place or a person that can protect you."
And again he's currently in jail. If you've already reported your case to an officer, you can call 512-974-6941. If you haven't reported anything but you need to, call 9-1-1.
We'd like to thank our viewers again for your emails and calls, which led to his arrest.
One of our viewers that sent us video of Rodriguez breaking into her home says, "I do feel so relieved. The fact that he was caught. This really is the best Christmas gift I could have been given."