BREAKING NEWS: BREAK-IN VICTIM WAS CITY COMISH NEECE; HIS SURVEILLANCE VIDEO HELPS BPD ID HOLDUP SUSPECTS

By Juan Montoya

A freelance social media news reporter has posted – and City of Brownsville Commissioner Ben Neece has confirmed – that he was the victim of a car break-in the predawn hours Monday where a
handgun was stolen from his car.

Police reported that the same handgun – used by the suspect identified through video surveillance at Neece's house/business address –  may have been used in at least two armed robberies of Stripes convenience stores since Monday.

Two other holdups were reported on Facebook by Arturo Treviño – owner of Los Trevis Drive-Thrus – who said he recognized the gunman as one of the men featured on the Brownsville Police Dept. video. He speculated that the criminals had already crossed into Matamoros after they found out they had been identified by police.

Neece said that the BPD detectives were able to identify the two men who broke into his car that was parked near the corner of Washington and 12th streets after viewing the recordings of his surveillance cameras which caught the duo in the act and a dash cam in a police car.

They were identified as Edxion Mata Gonzalez (19) (top picture) and Hector Zarate (22) (bottom).

Freelance social media reporter Enrique Lerma first posted on his site about the break-in and armed robberies.

Gonzalez has two warrants for Aggravated Robbery and Zarate has a warrant for Burglary of Motor Vehicle. Gonzalez is believed to have later committed the robberies of Stripes convenience stores using the same handgun.

"I feel saddened that my weapon has been used in this fashion," Neece confirmed in a written statement.

"I have a Concealed Handgun Permit and, as a Judge and former Judge, I felt safer having that protection. I keep a weapon in my vehicle and keep a weapon in my residence, which is where my vehicle was parked on 12th Street."

Neece said the break-in of his car parked in front of his home was an isolated, extreme incident.

"I don't want the public to have the impression that downtown is, normally, a dangerous place," he wrote. "I have lived there since July of 2016, and this is the first time I've had any issues. This is an extreme case, as reflected by the brazen acts perpetrated by these individuals."

The use of video cameras to improve downtown safety has been a mainstay of Neece's platform since he was elected as commissioner last May.  He said he and city administrators have already begun to work on the project in conjunction with the Health Dept, BPD, Brownsville Fire Department, Brownsville Historical Assoc., and Main Street to create a unified video surveillance system for downtown.

While he sat as judge, he recalled that police use of video was  an important tool for law enforcement, since video footage was used as part of the evidence justifying probable cause.

"I provided detailed video footage of the two perpetrators, which had been captured on my surveillance cameras," Neece said.
That, combined with the dash cam video from a patrol car which had stopped them (as suspected prowlers, an hour and a half prior to the burglary at my residence) and the store videos, the two were easily identified, and warrants obtained.

"The police, including the Chief (Orlando Rodriguez and Detective Parker and his associates deserve praise for their quick identification of the two," he wrote.

"I would encourage to the two individuals to turn themselves in before they do something tragic and make their problems harsher than they already are," he wrote.