Foot Chase Ends With Arrest Of Tulsa Burglary Suspect

Tulsa Police arrested a man early Wednesday who they say was trying to steal copper from an empty building at 3rd and Peoria.

Police got a call from the building owner at 4:30 a.m.  The owner told them his alarm company had notified him that the power in his building had been cut.

The owner told police he'd had problems with copper thieves before and requested they walk through the building with him.  Police saw a man lift his head up from behind some debris then take off running out of the building.

Officers chased the man several hundred feet down the railroad tracks while yelling at him to stop.  They say they saw him drop two bags as he ran.  An officer in a squad car caught up with him and got him to stop.

Police arrested the man, identified as Harley David Roland, 34.  Police recovered the two bags which they say contained tools and copper scraps.  Police say he was wearing rubber gloves and that they know through training and experience that people wear them when trying to avoid getting shocked when cutting electrical wires.

A Tulsa Police K-9 officer searched the building and found no one else inside.

The owner took police to the part of the building where the electricity was cut and they found strands of cut wire and a bolt cutter.

Roland was booked into the Tulsa County jail on complaints of 2nd degree burglary, resisting arrest, possession of burglary tools and larceny of copper.