- Mitchell C Vest, 60, was discovered by disbelieving dealers when they were reviewing security footage.
- The items included a makeup brush, a “piece of restoration hardware,” an antique bottle opener and a “tobacco tin.”
- He has been charged with one count of criminal mischief and released on $100 bail.
Texas antique dealers struggled to believe their eyes when surveillance footage showed a shopper in a kilt furtively inserting display items into his butt before returning them to the shelves.
News spread quickly through the business community in the spring after the burly man was first spotted at the Houston Gallery of Antiques on February 8.
“I had to look at it a couple of times to make sure I knew what I was looking at,” said gallery director Susan Golden. fox 26 “I’ve seen quite a few things here, but not that.”
Mitchell C Vest, 60, was arrested on February 15 and charged with one count of criminal mischief for treating items including a makeup brush, a “piece of restoration hardware,” an antique bottle opener and a “can of tobacco”.
Police are still searching for a female companion who appeared to be accompanying him.
Mitchell C Vest, 60, was allegedly seen hanging around area antique stores for hours and stuffing items up his butt before returning them to the shelf.
He was arrested on February 15 and charged with one count of criminal mischief.
“I had to look at it a couple of times to make sure I knew what I was looking at,” said gallery director Susan Golden.
Golden said the man had been seen on several previous occasions in the 85,000-square-foot store, often loitering for hours without making a purchase.
She called police on Feb. 10 after seeing him take the makeup brush and piece of hardware, “stick both items into his anus, and then return them to the shelf.”
Later that day he appeared at the nearby curio shop doing the same thing with the store’s bottle opener and can.
“Both plaintiffs reported that they had to throw away the items that were used in this incident because they had feces on them,” an affidavit states.
“Both provided video surveillance of the incidents and both wanted to press charges.”
After his description circulated, horrified merchants from as far away as Galveston and Tomball realized he had been in their stores, too.
On Feb. 15, officers had received calls from “multiple concerned citizens” about the man they said was “observed selecting items from multiple vendors and placing them in his rectum.”
“The male was then observed removing the items and placing them back on the shelves,” said Officer Mark Herman of the Haris County Police Department.
‘During further investigation, Constable investigators were able to positively identify the man as Mitchell Vest.
Vest appeared aware of the security camera and continued his antics.
The police are still looking for a companion who seemed to accompany him
Later that day he appeared at the nearby curio shop doing the same thing with the store’s bottle opener and can.
After his description circulated, horrified merchants as far away as Galveston and Tomball realized he had been in their stores, too.
‘Due to the loss of multiple old items that had to be disposed of, officers obtained an arrest warrant for the offense of criminal mischief.
‘Agents from Agent Mark Herman’s Special Operations Unit located and detained Mitchell Vest for his criminal mischief warrant.
Vest’s bail was set at $100.
Stores estimate the damage cost at $74 at the curio shop and $130 at the antique gallery.
“I was really shocked,” Golden said. “I just didn’t really know what to say or think.”