A man stuffed nearly 20 pounds of alcohol down his pants at a Colleyville liquor store, then walked right out the door. The store owner thinks the man was wearing pants custom-made for the job and he wants the thief and his accomplice caught before they strike again.
Charlie Hall makes it a point to know nearly everyone who steps into his longtime Colleyville store, Hall's Wine and Spirits. But there's one pair of faces he can't place – and he wants to.
"I'm trying to get everyone to recognize my friends," Hall said, pointing to freeze-framed surveillance video displayed on a large monitor by the checkout counter, along with a sign that reads, "Do you know these two thieves?"
The video shows a man and woman who brazenly stuffed five big bottles of liquor in her purse and down his pants.
"You ever seen anything like that?" Hall said. "You got both of these in your britches! Come on! I mean, there's something wrong here."
The big bottles weigh 8 pounds each, plus the man stuffed a smaller one in the back of his pants.
"I think he's got a special pair of pants on that he made for this," Hall said. "There's no regular pants alive, your underwear don't hold no 16 pounds!"
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Colleyville police said rigging up their pants is actually a fairly common trick for thieves.
"All we're asking for is to catch him," Hall said, adding that they've hit his place at least twice.
"Wearing the same shirt both times, come on! Ain't you got another shirt??" Hall said.
Now he wants to stop them before they seriously hurt his business.
"I don't know what to do, it gets worse as it goes," Hall said. "You try to give good prices and you've got somebody in here taking something that belongs to you."
He also doesn't want them to move on to a more serious crime.
"What happens if they graduate from this and wind up pulling a gun on somebody?" Hall said. "That's the one thing I'm worried about. I don't want nobody hurt over this."
So he'll keep spreading the word however he can, hoping someone will recognize the thieves with the "boozy britches."
Colleyville police have a warrant out for 33-year-old Clifford Sanders who they think is the man in that video. They haven't been able to find him yet, and they're still trying to identify the woman who worked with him.
Anyone with information should call Colleyville police at: 817-743-4522.
