Burglars take mattresses

Kim Slaughter won't be counting the sheep for a while after someone drove off with 30 mattresses and box springs from Key West Mattress over the Fourth of July weekend.

The store's owner said he isn't sure how the burglars were able to run off with the bulky merchandise, valued at about $18,000, according to a police incident report.

"I guess they brought a trailer," Slaughter said.

Police had little information on how someone was able to steal the mattresses, which were taken along with the store's lawnmower and weed trimmer. An incident report said the thief or thieves went through a window at 3515 Andrews Highway to enter the warehouse. Odessa public information officer Andrea Goodson said the thieves left through one of the warehouse's bay doors.

The incident report indicated a total of 40 mattresses were taken, though Slaughter said that number was actually 30.

Slaughter thought the thieves might try selling the mattresses and box springs, but otherwise he wasn't sure what they would want with so many of them. He also said he had insurance to cover some of the losses, but it was just the latest and most painful case in a string of burglaries around the store. He said he was going to beef up the security in his warehouse to stop this from happening again.

"There's a bunch of thugs in this neighborhood," he said. "One time ... they stole my door and windshield off my truck."