‘Back to his old tricks’: Man accused of pretending to be deputy while breaking into Kingwood area home

Jul 11, 2023

Erica Ponder, Digital Content Producer

KINGWOOD, Texas – A suspect accused of imitating a Harris County sheriff’s deputy while burglarizing a home in the Kingwood area has been arrested, the Houston Police Department said.

Douglas Paul Cody, 26, was charged with burglary of a habitation and impersonating a public servant. He reportedly damaged up to $11,500 in property.

On June 23, HPD responded to reports of a burglary at a home in the 5400 block of Shady Maple Drive.

Police said the homeowner was out of town at the time but was alerted by surveillance and doorbell cameras when a suspect broke into the home. According to documents, the homeowner said he heard the suspect say he was “police” while breaking down the front door. The suspect ripped off the doorbell camera, but it was still recording.

Items that were stolen from the home included a .223 Keltic black rifle, a black Remington 7-70 rifle, some clothes that belonged to the homeowner’s children, and a 5-gallon water jug full of change the homeowner was saving that possibly amounted to nearly $5,000. Investigators said the driver’s side window of the homeowner’s truck was also shattered.

According to HPD, the homeowner told officers he believed the suspect was someone he knew and that he was being targeted.

The homeowner said he immediately reached out to a mutual acquaintance, who sent him a photo of a person who could’ve been the burglary suspect.

He told investigators that the person in the photo, who was later identified as Cody, had a tattoo similar to that of the suspect that was captured on surveillance video during the burglary.

Upon reviewing the surveillance video, investigators said they saw an older white model SUV pull up on the street. A man wearing a black shirt, khaki pants and black low-cut shoes with white trim on the bottom was reportedly seen getting out of the vehicle and walking to the homeowner’s front door with a flashlight in his hand. The suspect appeared to have shined the light on the doorbell as a way to distort the image. The suspect then kicked down the homeowner’s door after multiple attempts while yelling “Harris County Sheriff’s Office,” investigators said.

After searching the HPD RMS system database, investigators were able to pull up the suspect. They discovered that Cody had been arrested multiple times by HPD-Kingwood officers for crimes he allegedly committed in the area.

Investigators said on July 5, one of Cody’s family members told them that he was “back to his old tricks” and may have been involved in a “robbery” where a door was kicked in. The family member admitted they threw an AK-style rifle that Cody had stolen into a river in Kingwood and that it looked new.

Investigators looked up the suspect’s social media accounts and said that the same clothing the suspect was wearing while burglarizing the home was similar to the clothing Cody was wearing in pictures. Investigators said Cody’s voice also matched the voice heard during the burglary.

A Harris County judge reviewed evidence and signed a warrant for Cody’s arrest. He was taken into custody the next day without incident and booked into the Harris County Jail.