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STATUE RETURNED! Livingston restaurant owner retrieves stolen bust

Joe's Statue is Home! (Polk County Precinct 1 Constable)

LIVINGSTON, Texas – The statue stolen from a Livingston restaurant has been returned to its rightful owner.

On Tuesday night, surveillance video was posted showing two people sitting in a booth at Joe’s Italian Restaurant. A man is seen taking a statue off the wall of the restaurant, covering it with a garment and walking out of the establishment. Gjoka Ilir Joe, the owner of the restaurant, posted screenshots of the footage to try to identify the perpetrator.

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Post by Gjoka Ilir Joe (Facebook)

After a day of searching, the Livingston Police Department announced they had identified the man and woman seen in the surveillance video.

Following the spread of the footage across social media, a nearby business was able to capture the pair’s license plate on its security footage. The identifying video was given to Joe, who turned it over to the Livingston Police Department.

Police located the suspects and brought them back to the restaurant with the statue.

Joe said he declined to press charges, citing his belief in second chances. He told the man not to do anything like this again.


About the Author
Michael Horton headshot

Michael is a Kingwood native who loves visiting local restaurants and overreacting to Houston sports. He joined the KPRC 2 family in the spring of 2024. He earned his B.A. from Texas A&M University in 2022 and his M.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2023.

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