Thief steals truck, Cub Scouts’ cash in Keller

A thief certainly wasn’t paying attention to the Cub Scout promise — “To do my duty to God and my country, To help other people” — when he stole a truck and almost $600 Saturday.

Cub Scouts had worked hard all morning to raise the money, a troop leader said Monday. Keller police said it was in a black money box inside a Chevrolet Silverado parked near Kroger in the 900 block of Keller Parkway.

Cub Scout leader Matt Barnes of Fort Worth had stepped away from the truck and was talking to someone.

“He wasn’t gone two minutes and someone stole the truck,” Keller police Capt. Tommy Simmons said Monday. Police said they didn’t have any leads Monday.

Barnes’ 7-year-old son, Westin, and another Cub Scout sold Camp Cards at $5 apiece from 9 a.m. until noon Saturday.

“They had worked as hard as any 7-year-olds could,” Barnes said. “We were scheduled to go to a different location at noon, so we were packing up.”

Barnes said he drove his dark gray 2006 Chevrolet Silverado near the front of the Kroger and left it running.

“My alert level was so low,” Barnes said. “I had left the money box in the truck and I was going to get the tables. I started talking to a Cub Scout mom and it was brief.”

When he turned around toward the truck, Barnes said, it was gone.

“I didn’t notice anyone looking at it,” he said. “But I wasn’t looking for anyone.”

This story was originally published April 11, 2016 at 6:04 PM with the headline "Thief steals truck, Cub Scouts’ cash in Keller."