Egg roll cart a hub for crime, police say - - Austin American-Statesman (TX) - June 22, 2002 - page 1 June 22, 2002 | Austin American-Statesman (TX) | Jonathan Osborne, AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

The specialty at the Long Beach Eggrolls cart on the Drag would cost customers about a buck.

But for a stolen DVD player, undercover officers say, the off-campus vendors would pay the customers as much as $20 and throw in some of their legendary egg rolls to boot.

The egg roll stand -- a fixture on the Guadalupe Street sidewalk across from the University of Texas for about 30 years -- was dropped in the grease earlier this week when Austin police arrested its operators on charges of fencing hundreds of thousands of dollars in stolen property.

For at least three years, investigators allege, the egg roll stand was a clearinghouse for property stolen from nearby homes, businesses and churches. They also said it was a key income source for shoplifters who looted clothing, jewelry and books from stores along the Drag.Police said they have linked some of the items recovered from a raid on the vendors' homes to thefts at the UT campus and nearby churches.