A sharp eye and good luck helped a Bell County constable stop two men from stealing tractor equipment in Temple.
Bell County Precinct 3 Constable Thomas Prado and his deputies were on their way to lunch Tuesday morning when he spotted something strange at a construction site just two blocks from his office.
“As I’m turning down 4th Street to get on Adams, I notice two males loading a big bucket, that belongs on the tractor, onto the back of their pickup truck. They were looking suspicious, so we turned around on them, and they took off at a high rate of speed," Prado said. “We kinda knew where they were going to go. We found them at the scrap metal yard on 14th Street. And they took off again.”
Prado and his deputies followed Brandon Mast, 30, and Hank Boring, 21, to North 12th Street and East Nugent Avenue, where the two men dropped that tractor loader bucket they stole, estimated to be worth $2,400, in the middle of the street.
The pursuit ended on the corner of North 4th Street and East Nugent Avenue.
“We placed them into custody and took them to the Bell County Jail for theft," Prado said.
Richard Hoelscher lives in a house on that corner and saw what happened.
“It sounded like they were yelling for someone to stop and get out. Came on out and saw three constable cars surrounding the truck that they had pulled over," Hoelscher said.
Prado says he doesn't consider himself a hero -- he was just doing his job.
“Just using due diligence and looking around and making sure nobody’s stealing anything," he said.
Mast and Boring both have a bond set at $2,500.
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