Man accused of breaking into State Senator Joan Huffman's vehicle while on bond

HOUSTON - Melvin Stewart is being described as the reason state law needs to change making burglary of a motor vehicle a more serious felony.

Stewart has mug shots dating back to 2005.

The backstory:

"He's been doing this for a very long time," said Ray Hunt, Executive Director, Houston Police Union.

According to his criminal history, Stewart has broken into more vehicles than he can probably count.

"He had two screwdrivers in his little pouch in the front seat. This is what this guy does for a living," Hunt said.

Last week, State Senator Joan Huffman and her husband were having lunch at Cleburnes. The parking lot across the street was a bad spot for Stewart to allegedly pick as the cafeteria is a favorite for law enforcement.

What they're saying:

"A lot of my personal items were gone," said Huffman. "Some things were recovered, but we lost quite a bit. We were lucky there was a camera in the church parking lot. HPD did a great job finding the car and driver of the car."

"This is a rare situation," said Hunt. "We can only solve one percent of burglary of a motor vehicles, because there's just so many of them. This happens multiple times every day. People watching right now saying, 'yeah, same thing happened to me."

"He's probably victimized hundreds of people, if not thousands. He's a professional," Huffman said. "I'm not surprised at all to hear he's on bond."

"He actually went to TDC for four years for burglary of a motor vehicle, that's pretty serious," said Andy Kahan with Houston Crime Stoppers. 

It takes three burglary of a motor vehicle convictions before it becomes a felony. Some are calling for a change in state law.

"If you want to continue breaking into cars, and you have more than 10 prior convictions, then we need to raise it to a first-degree felony," Kahan said. 

What's next:

208th Judge Beverley Armstrong is holding Stewart with no bond until a hearing can be held next month.