Wagoner County Fugitive Fortified Home To Keep Law Enforcement Out, Sheriff Says

The Wagoner County Sheriff's office is looking for a fugitive, after serving a search warrant at his home Monday.

They took extra precautions because they say the suspect is an ex-con who said he would not go back to prison and was rumored to have automatic weapons, even a grenade launcher. The Wagoner County Sheriff’s office had a search warrant, saying ex-con Raymond Lane was suspected of having stolen property, drugs and guns.

The Coweta Police department also had an arrest warrant, saying Lane is accused of assault with a deadly weapon after ramming a police car during a recent chase.

Related Story: Coweta Police Searching For Suspect Who Rammed Police Car 

Because of the high-risk nature of this case, Wagoner County Sheriff Chris Elliott asked the Cherokee Marshal's Special Operations Team to take lead.

They yelled for 20 minutes over a loudspeaker for Lane to come out of his home near Coweta, then the Cherokee marshals set off a series of harmless, flash bang type explosives to see if that got a response.

Coweta PD had a drone, looking for heat signatures inside the building and finally, after securing the area, the Cherokee marshals decided to blow the door off the metal building to gain access inside. That was followed by tear gas and finally, they made entry.

They found a stolen 38-foot fifth wheel where the suspect was living, but, not him. Sheriff Elliott says Lane had spent a lot of time using a bulldozer to dig a moat around most of the building, then stacked up huge piles of dirt around the rest, in an effort to keep law enforcement from getting to him.

"This moat goes all the way around the front of the property so there's no access from 131st street," said Sheriff Elliot.

Most of the veteran officers on the scene had never seen anything like it.

"This is the first time in 30 years I've seen an individual go to this much trouble to fortify his position, so law enforcement couldn't get to him," said Elliot.

He says deputies found a belt of 50 caliber ammunition, along with live ammo and a number of stolen items.

They say Raymond Lane is a fugitive and they are actively looking for him.