When a mechanic at a Wallisville Road lube shop lifted the hood on Edrich Mack's car, he saw a puzzling sight: a brown plastic bag tucked between the block and the firewall on the left side of the engine. The mechanic peered inside and saw that the bag contained a fairly mad stack of cash, and called police.
According to court documents, a Harris County Sheriff showed up awhile later, and joined the mechanic in examining the engine block cache. Mack saw the cop looking in his engine and came outside to inquire about what was going on. The cop asked Mack if the car was his and Mack said it was. The cop then told Mack that there was a large amount of cash found in his engine, and asked Mack if it belonged to him. Mack told the cop he had no idea how it got there.
No idea! What money?
The cash was seized and Mack was released. (No word on if the mechanic finished working on Mack's engine.)
Police counted $8,620 at the police station and turned it over to a K-9 drug dog. The cop dog indicated that the money smelled like drugs, because now the State of Texas is moving to seize the money.
Well, that's not the only reason the state is attempting to claim the cash. The State of Texas believes Mack can't prove that he came by that money by legitimate means. Mack is a convicted drug dealer and car thief, is currently unemployed, and is out on bond after an incident in May in which he was pulled over in Kashmere Gardens for a traffic stop. In an official report, a cop said Mack appeared intoxicated, not least because Mack's nostrils were coated with white powder residue.
When the cop attempted to arrest Mack, he fled and allegedly struck a cop in the throat with his forearm in making his temporary escape. Minutes later he was taken down in Kashmere Gardens' no doubt aptly named Gulf Coast Arms apartments. Police later found a vial of cocaine in his car, and yep, over $5,000 cash, which the State of Texas is also actively attempting to seize as we speak. So in a way this second case is something like "The Return of the Mack."
While we're not saying Mack had anything to do with the money under his hood, or is guilty of anything in the May incident, we will say this: Anybody who literally can't keep their nose clean while they're out doin' dirt, or who forgets about almost $10K in their car engine on the day they take their ride in for a lube job, should seriously consider changing their line of work.
