A South Montgomery County man who confronted a burglar early Monday was assaulted and his assailants escaped, but were later arrested after making it easy for police to find them.
The victim and a friend arrived at his home on Woodhollow Drive just after 2 a.m. to find two men stealing speakers from a truck parked in his garage, which they had accessed by going through the home.
The victim told police he tried to detain one of the suspects who was trying to get into a getaway vehicle, but the suspect punched the victim in the face and dragged him a short distance. Fortunately, the victim was not seriously injured.
He and his friend followed the thieves. While driving on Sawdust Road, they noticed Montgomery County Sheriff’s patrol deputies conducting a follow-up investigation on another call. The men stopped, told officers what happened, and gave them the license plate number of the suspect’s vehicle.
Deputies contacted the owner of the vehicle in Harris County, who was surprised to hear his vehicle was involved in a crime because he had not discovered it was stolen.
As the investigation continued, a vehicle fire was reported on Old Riley Fuzzle Road, which turned out to be the vehicle stolen from Harris County.
The thieves might have thought they were burning the evidence of their crime, but MCSO deputies noticed gouges in the mud leading from the burned vehicle onto the roadway and to a residence on Riley Fuzzle Road where they arrested the two suspects.
Davide Wayne Wead, 18, who lives at the Riley Fuzzle residence and 19-year-old Dakota Joseph Bruce Wheat, who lives on FM 1488 in Magnolia, were charged with robbery and burglary of a habitation. Their bonds were set at $10,000 per charge and as of Wednesday morning, they remain jailed.
Wheat also had an outstanding warrant for criminal mischief. His bond is set at $1,000 on that charge. Police records show no other prior offenses for Wheat.
Wead was convicted of assault causes bodily injury in June in Harris County.
