HOUSTON – Houston police are searching for a group of people they believe are behind dozens of auto thefts at both Hobby and Bush airports.
In a 12-month time period, police said more than 170 people parked at the airport garages and locked their vehicles, but when they returned, it was gone.
Police believe a 23-year-old, identified as Joe Aguirre, committed some of the crimes. A leader at Crime Stoppers Houston believes Aguirre could be in charge of a ring of vehicle theft.
“He was doing the same thing in Galveston. He has also been picked up in Pearland. He’s been picked up in Brazoria County,” Andy Kahan of Crime Stoppers Houston said.
Kahan dug into the background of one of the men accused of a string of vehicle thefts at Houston airports after watching KPRC 2′s story from last week.
“None of this should have ever happened, period,” he said. “And I can visibly see the officers’ frustration and I don’t blame them. I would be frustrated too if you’re continuing to arrest the same guy over and over again for the same thing and he’s right back out doing it again.”
Kahan believes Aguirre is the head of the operation. Aguirre is wanted for auto thefts between April 24 through May 23.
A look at his Harris County records reveals this isn’t the first time he’s been accused of this. He’s had two previous felony unauthorized use of vehicle charges disposed of after plea deals. In 2022 and 2023, three vehicle theft charges were filed against him.
“None of this should have happened because the DA’s office, the bond violations that have been filed, the consistency of every time he’s out he reoffends, that should have been fairly obvious to anyone that’s releasing him is not in the best interests of society,” Kahan said.
Kahan believes some of the vehicle thefts could have been prevented.
Court records shows a magistrate judge declined issuing Aguirre a personal bond because he was deemed high risk for charges against him in 2022. The “[defendant] is accused of stealing multiple truck(s) parked in airport long term parking. [Defendant] is a high risk to community safety,” records state.
“Bottom line is, anyone who had their car stolen by this guy in 2022 and 2023, none of it should have happened,” Kahan said.
A Houston Airports spokesperson said 2,240,611 people parked at Bush Airport in Terminal A, B, or C garages from May 2022 thru April 2023. The number of auto theft is small compared to how frequently people park in the garages but that’s not very reassuring for one of the nearly 200 victims with a stolen car.
“We have a relatively low occurrence of auto thefts at bush airport compared to other locations in the city,” said Houston Police Commander Mike Faulhaber. “The airport remains a safe place for travelers, employees and visitors to come to. We encourage everyone, though, to remain vigilant.”
Sgt. Tracy Hicks with Houston Police’s Auto Theft Crimes Task Force said concerned drivers could calm any nerves they have about parking at the garages by adding a layered approach of prevention by buying trackers, like Apple AirTags.
“You can actually tell where your car is at on your phone,” he said.
He includes upgrading vehicle alarms, “making sure you have ignition killed switches built into the alarms,” or simply adding wheel locks.
Harris County Pre-Trial Services declined to comment for this story.
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