TRAVIS COUNTY, Texas – Deputies have charged a man with felony burglary after he allegedly broke into a north Austin construction site Sunday to try and steal tools and equipment.
The arrest affidavit for 39-year-old Eloy Ramos states deputies responded to the area of Grand Avenue Parkway and Three Points Road around 3:10 p.m. Dec. 10 for a report of a suspicious person that had cut open a fence and some containers at a construction site. While deputies were searching for a green Chevrolet Astro van, a TSCO lieutenant located the vehicle on the property of a construction firm along the 15600 block of the northbound Interstate 35 service road. When the lieutenant made contact with Ramos, he allegedly said he was on the property to get some “stuff.”
The affidavit states Ramos matched the description provided by the person who initially called police. Ramos allegedly told deputies he was an employee with the construction company, and that he was contacted by a supervisor named “Jeff” to gather supplies for an upcoming job.
Deputies said Ramos allowed them to search the van, and the affidavit states they located several items, including “a multitude of construction safety equipment,” bolt cutters and a lock that had been cut. Deputies also found markings on a storage shed that had been forced open, and evidence a pry bar in the van may have been used to open the shed.
The Travis County Sheriff’s Office contacted the operations manager for the construction firm, who sent several employees to the firm’s property. The affidavit states all of the employees who arrived at the company told deputies they did not recognize Ramos as an employee, and that they did not know another employee named “Jeff.”
Approximately $3,600 in tools and equipment belonging to the construction company were recovered from Ramos’ van. The sheriff’s office noted in the affidavit that Ramos has multiple prior convictions for burglary, theft of property, and theft of material aluminum/bronze/copper/brass < $20,000.
Ramos was booked into the Travis County Jail on a felony charge of burglary of a building. The affidavit and online jail records state he is being held on $25,000 bond. A booking photo is not available as of 1:30 p.m. Monday.
