A-EZ Out Bail Bonds: Tarrant County Crime Watch

On average, someone commits a crime every 9 minutes in Tarrant County. While Northwest Tarrant County is generally the safest, folks in the rest of the county are more liable to commit or fall victim to a crime. Today, A-EZ Out Bail Bonds has compiled a guide outlining the crimes most commonly committed in Tarrant county, which encompasses Arlington, Fort Worth, Keller, North Richland Hills, Hurst, Euless, Bedford, and beyond. If you find yourself accused of any of the following crimes, contact us right away to secure a quick bond release and begin planning your legal defense.

Vehicle theft

Theft of any vehicle in the state of Texas will earn you a misdemeanor, but if the vehicle is worth more than $2,500 and less than $30,000– you’ll be charged with a state jail felony. If found guilty, you may be responsible for a fine as high as $10,000 and face a maximum of two years in jail. This particular crime is common in Fort Worth, Grand Prairie, Irving, DFW airport. However, there are several hotspots across the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. You can be charged with this crime for stealing or attempting to steal any motor vehicle. This includes things like cars, motorcycles, semi-trucks, and even golf carts.

Burglary

Also known as breaking and entering, burglary is defined as entering someone else’s property to commit a crime, especially theft. The DFW airport is particularly susceptible to burglary, but Carrollton, North Saginaw, White Settlement, and Southeast Dallas have high burglary rates too.

In Texas, you can even be convicted if you enter an uninhabited building without the owner’s permission. That would be a state jail felony and punishable by up to two years of jail time and a $10,000 fine. It’s important to note that this crime is different than criminal trespass because it’s done with the intent to commit further crime.

Theft

Without getting into legal jargon, this crime occurs when you take something that doesn’t belong to you without the owner’s permission. This is a huge issue all around the DFW metroplex and can hardly be confined to one area. The crime itself and the subsequent punishment is classified by the amount stolen.

Theft of property valued between $750 and $2,500 is a Class A misdemeanor. If you steal less, you may be charged with a Class B or C misdemeanor which carries slightly less severe penalties. However, theft of value or services priced between $2,500 and $30,000 would be classified as a state jail felony.

Anything above that is considered a regular felony, but once you steal something worth more than $300,000 you could land yourself in jail for the rest of your life with a maximum 99 year jail sentence. Of course, the penalties could always get worse if your crime falls under an enhanced theft penalty.

Arson

If you intentionally set fire to a property, you’ll be charged with arson. This seems to be more of an issue in Northeast Tarrant county, from the DFW airport to Frisco. In Dallas, Texas– even setting fire to open spaces can land you in jail. The penalties for arson convictions are generally quite severe as it’s a felony.

Identity theft

This crime appears to be significantly more prevalent in Denton and Collin counties, but Dallas, Arlington, and Fort Worth also have some issues with identity theft. Identity theft can fall under several categories but it’s always defined by the act of acquiring or stealing someone’s private identifying information and using it for financial gain. The minimum jail sentence for aggravated identity theft is a mandatory minimum of two years in jail. However, depending on the severity and nature of the crime, you could be saddled with steep fines and sent off to prison for the rest of your life.

Drug crimes

There are quite a few drug crimes relative to the population in the area between Keller and the DFW

airport. However, there are instances of drug crimes scattered throughout the DFW. Cocaine, heroin, meth, and marijuana are drugs frequently found in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. These illicit drugs are generally smuggled into North Texas from Mexico. Once locals buy them, they’re then caught and arrested by city police departments.