Thieves have burglarized several rental facilities in Texas since late December and as recently as Jan. 6, according to American Rental Association (ARA) and National Equipment Register (NER) members. The burglaries are very similar, and those in the Dallas area may be the work of one group of perpetrators. Areas in Texas targeted included Tyler, Jacksonville, Athens, Azle, Dallas, Garland and Houston.

In several cases, the offenders used cut-off saws to cut either metal panels or cinder block walls at the back of the buildings to gain access. In others, the thieves simply broke through windows or doors, then removed a considerable amount of equipment from the facility. Stolen equipment includes cut-off saws, generators, tampers, welders, power trowels, paint sprayers, pressure washers and pumps.

Offenders on at least one incident were several Hispanic males driving a dark colored box van. One location was burglarized twice in less than a week and some break-ins occurred shortly after the business closed.