Police Arrest Suspected Burglar At Muskogee Salvage Yard

Muskogee Police surrounded a salvage yard on Thursday in search of a suspect they've been hoping to find for some time.

Police say several businesses along Highway 69 have been reporting minor burglaries over the last few months so on Tuesday, Police started overnight surveillance.

At Sooner Auto Salvage, owner Bill Inhofe says his burglar alarm went off at 8:30 Thursday morning.

"We've got alarms and cameras and it set that off, took a picture and sent that to us immediately," said Inhofe.

More than a dozen officers surrounded the 17-acre property and started searching 500 plus cars and several buildings. Dogs from the Sheriff's Office, Police, and Cherokee Marshals were brought in to cover the ground faster. The landowner was sure they had the suspect surrounded.

"The PD was here within 10 minutes, he couldn't have got out here that fast," said Inhofe.

What the burglar didn't know was that Muskogee Police had been watching, all night, sure he would return.

"We've had numerous reports of burglaries from Shawnee up to the Pilot on Harris Road," said Officer Jeramie Garcia.

They searched almost four hours, before emerging with Andrew Ford. Officers believe they just missed him overnight.

"I was in the field the majority of the night last night, so it did some good. He told me, I heard you, so I left," said Garcia.

Ford was booked into jail on the one burglary complaint, but officers believe they can tie him to other cases just up the road from where they caught him.