City of Houston authorities are investigating a burglary at the Houston Area Chamber of Commerce Fairgrounds.
Texas County Fair Board President Darren Ice reported Wednesday morning that the organization’s office building next to the livestock showing arena and the nearby cook shack had been broken into. Ice said more than $7,000 worth of equipment and other items had been stolen, including a scale head and a computer with specialized programs.
The exact time frame of the incident is not known.
“One of the City of Houston guys was driving by and saw our air conditioner hanging out the window and figured that probably wasn’t good,” Ice said.
The Chamber of Commerce cook shack was apparently also burglarized.
“We found some sodas that weren’t ours and looked up there and saw they had been broken into, too,” Ice said, “and the sodas evidently came from up there.”
Houston Police Department officer Dustin Hartman responded to the scene after fair board representatives called to report the incident. Hartman said there was nothing found that provided any viable lead.
Chamber board president Gayla Bratton and board member Tammy Cantrell inspected the chamber’s cook shack. Cantrell said nothing was missing but “some sodas.”
Bratton said an attempt had apparently been made to break into the adjacent Murfin Building, because a lock on a door had been partially drilled out.
“They must have been spooked before they finished,” she said.
Ice said a “Go Fund Me” account would be set up online so the fair board could recoup some of its losses.
“We definitely don’t have that kind of money right now,” he said.
Anyone with information about the case is encouraged to call the HPD at 417-967-3348 or Ice at 417-260-0471. Â