This is the second time this store has been damaged.
HOUSTON — A Houston resale store is hoping to recover dozens of luxury coats that were robbed for the second time in just over two months.
“We’ve been in business for about 20 years and we’ve never had a break-in like this,” Michelle Paquette previously told KHOU 11 News.
If the name Michelle Paquette or her business, Designer Diva Resale, sounds familiar, that’s because they are. In October, KHOU 11 covered a store robbery where robbers entered the store, bent the security bar and ended up making off with more than 60 pieces of high-end vintage furs, totaling more than $700,000. A few days later, Puckett completely updated its security system.
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Paquette said she never expected something like this to happen again.
Unfortunately, she was wrong. Early Wednesday morning, Paquette’s new camera captured the thieves breaking the glass, bending the security bar and re-entering her store.
“I’m very upset. It’s heartbreaking,” Paquette said. Paquette believes the same perpetrator is behind both robberies.
The video shows the scammers trying to figure out how to stop Puckett’s new siren. They eventually give in and get what they wanted: a fancy vintage fur coat.
Moments later, the video shows the getaway car pull up and the daring robbers flee minutes before Puckett and HPD show up. Puckett said he was able to get away with 37 coats, totaling more than $300,000.
But Puckett said he had a device to track these furs and was able to locate them minutes after the robbery and see where the furs were. She alerted police officers at the scene.
“I couldn’t believe it. I went to tell them where they were, and that’s when he said, ‘I’ll be down in a few hours.’ We’re going to send someone there,” Paquette told KHOU. told 11 News.
Puckett explained that his nightmarish Wednesday wasn’t over. She called Houston police after a tracking device alerted her that the fur was stuck in a residential area.
“He said it was the sheriff’s department, so I had to call the sheriff’s department and they said no, it’s HPD. This is over 20 phone calls back and forth,” Puckett said. he told KHOU 11 News.
Still, several days later, Paquette said the fur had not moved and authorities had not come near the vehicle or the address given by the tracker.
“Shame on you,” Puckett said. “That’s what I mean. It’s a shame that I didn’t take care of this. You know, I spent all the effort, expense, money. I’ve been here all day since 3 a.m. , researched and investigated and tried to help them. What did you do? Nothing… Please do something.”
KHOU 11 News reached out to both HPD and the Harris County Sheriff’s Office. The Sheriff’s Office told KHOU 11 that HPD is the lead agency in this investigation. As for HPD, they said detectives are currently canvassing the area of Fur’s last known location.
