Tulsa Police Nab Alleged Serial Burglar

Tulsa Police have arrested a man they say has a long history of burglarizing several midtown homes.

Police say Dameon Leathers, 30, was arrested after hitting a home last week. Police say just getting him off the streets will cut down on crime in a big way.

Records show Leathers has previous convictions for breaking into homes and stealing; in fact, he has 13 different mug shots on the Department of Corrections website.

He was just released from prison last May, and is still currently on federal probation for a firearms conviction. Police say none of that stopped him from getting back to his old tricks.

"He gets up in the morning and this is what he does, he goes to work. If he put that much effort into a real job, he'd probably be successful," said Tulsa Police Sergeant Shellie Wood.

Investigators say Leathers parks in the driveway or in front of the house and knocks on the door. When no one answers, he either pushes it or kicks it in. He's not just doing a few of these; police say he's hitting 40 homes a month.

They say he goes after the usual: electronics and flat screen TV's. Police say about 10 percent of the population does about 90 percent of the crimes, so burglary detectives are focusing their efforts right now on going after serial offenders.

"Burglary is considered a property crime, so it doesn't have a high priority like murders, robberies and rapes with the DA's office. But, it does affect the greatest number of citizens, so it is frustrating," Sgt. Wood said.

She says judges and prosecutors are working with them to ensure the repeat offenders are getting the higher bonds and harsher prison sentences.

Police are afraid Leathers will get out and get right back to it, so they want people to know he's been seen in a white, 2002 Chevy Tahoe, or 2000 silver Chevy Impala.

They say be on the look out for those vehicles prowling neighborhoods, or just any vehicles that don't seem to belong.