Armored Car, “The Beast,” Comes to Van Zandt County

CANTON — Van Zandt County Sheriff Michael Lindsey Ray is taking time to explain his office’s newest crimefighting tool, an armored car nicknamed “The Beast.” Ray said, �I have made a promise to the law abiding citizens of Van Zandt County to try to do more with less and try to make our communities safer places to live. When you get in the fight in the ‘war against drugs’ some of the necessary safety equipment can get to be very expensive. I recently received a call from Sheriff Ray Nutt, in Henderson County, asking if our deputies could benefit from the use of a Brinks armored car. These vehicles have become increasingly more valuable to law enforcement agencies because the environment we work in has become increasingly more dangerous.�

The Van Zandt County Commissioner�s Court voted unanimously on August 24 to allow the Van Zandt County Sheriff�s Office to receive from the Henderson County Sheriff�s Office the 1993 International Armored Truck, which is owned by Brinks Incorporated. Brinks waived the usual ten dollar rental fee normally charged to agencies taking possession of their assets. The simple contract states receiving agencies are at liberty to use the trucks for law enforcement purposes but are required to return the vehicle to Brinks or transfer it to another law enforcement entity when the vehicle is no longer in use.

Sheriff Ray continued, in part, �These trucks are used to serve high risk search warrants and high risk arrest warrants. I am simply trying to create an environment where the criminal violator who lives here, or those criminal violators who come here, will find that Van Zandt County is no longer a place where they are comfortable carrying out their criminal activities. I realize this is a pretty intimidating machine, our deputies have nicknamed it ‘The Beast.’ I would like to stress that if you see it going down the road; please realize that it is just another tool being used to try to make our communities safer places to live.�