Many of you may have heard of the “Coverall Bandit.” Well, word on the street is that he will be donning a new look: a changeover from standard coveralls to a brand new, bright orange one piece.

During the early morning hours of February 24, 2016, the Deployment Unit, undercover officers, discovered that a Southwest Division Robbery offense at the 7-Eleven store located at 2242 South Zang Boulevard  appeared to have been committed by the “Coverall Bandit.”  This subject had been committing business robberies in Cedar Hill, Duncanville, Desoto, and Hutchins. Covert officers went to the 7-Eleven store, viewed the surveillance video, and confirmed their instinct.

By 10 a.m., the Dallas officers contacted the Cedar Hill Police Department and learned that a possible suspect, Matthew Neal B/M/5-19-85, had been developed from a Crime Stoppers tip. Deployment officers researched this subject, and identified several possible addresses for him, in addition to the location of his girlfriend’s home in Corsicana, Texas. The officers checked these locations however were unsuccessful.  Meanwhile, the Dallas PD Robbery Unit obtained an Aggravated Robbery warrant for Mr. Neal.

The next day, February 25, 2016, Dallas undercover officers began surveillance and determined that Neal was at a location in South Dallas. Before sufficient deployment officers could arrive, Neal began traveling south on Interstate 45, finally stopping in near his girlfriend’s home in Corsicana. Deployment officers arrived in Corsicana, and after an hour of continued surveillance, the officers confirmed that the location was his girlfriend’s home. 

Dallas officers requested assistance from the Navarro County Sheriff Elmer Tanner for aid in serving the warrant.  Sheriff Tanner and his deputies accompanied the Dallas officers to a residence on Fullwood-Cockerel Road where Neal was arrested without incident.

The Deployment officers recovered the coveralls worn by the bandit and learned the location of the suspect vehicle which was then recovered by Cedar Hill PD.  Suspect Mathew Neal was arraigned in Navarro County and returned to the Dallas PD Robbery Unit for interviews. Deployment then placed Neal in the Dallas County Jail with a bond set at $100,000.00. 

Neal’s arrest cleared the below number of Robbery/Aggravated Robbery offenses:

• Dallas———–3
• Cedar Hill——-2
• Desoto———-1
• Duncanville—–1
• Hutchins——-1

DB