New Charges Against Police Officer

A Muskogee police officer faces new charges.  Kris Ledford is already charged with stealing guns from the Muskogee Police Department's property room.  

News On 6's crime reporter Lori Fullbright reports Ledford is now accused of taking a fellow officer's bullet proof vest and selling it to a deputy in Cherokee County.  He also faces criminal charges in Tulsa.

The News On 6's Lori Fullbright has interviewed Kris Ledford and talked to him on the phone several times.  She reports he's a husband and the father of a toddler girl.  The people she has talked to agree, and say this is a bad deal, not just for him, but for the reputation of police officers all over Green Country.

Tulsa Police say it was a surveillance tape that started unraveling it all.  They say it shows Muskogee Officer Kris Ledford and his friend, Shawn Busby, inside a Tulsa Radio Shack on May 1^st, as Busby steals a police scanner.

Police believe the men were listening to the stolen scanner the next day when they heard a family call 911 and say they'd found a safe in a field while four-wheeling and requested a Tulsa Police officer to come and pick it up.  Police say Ledford and Busby showed up instead, flashing a badge.

"They addressed the witnesses, the 911 callers by name and said they were Tulsa Police officers and were here to recover the safe," said Tulsa Police Detective Debra Glenn.

Officers tracked down Busby, served a warrant at his house and say they found a Muskogee duffle bag, handcuffs, drugs and a gun.  And then, they say they got Ledford identified and were shocked.

"At the time I was first assigned the case, I assumed it was a couple of guys running around with a fake badge, acting kinda cool and hoping it was not an actual police officer involved in this," said Tulsa Police Detective Debra Glenn.

A search warrant at Ledford's house turned up a number of guns and police say at least 10 of them had been in the Muskogee Police Department's property room.   He's accused of taking one gun from evidence and selling it to a doctor for $500.

Ledford currently faces three charges in Muskogee and two in Tulsa.  That's something that is heartbreaking for other officers.

"It is just sickening because it erodes the public trust in every other officer," said Tulsa Police Detective Debra Glenn.

The Muskogee Police Department had scheduled a hearing on Thursday to start the process of firing Ledford, but, his attorney, Chad Richardson got an injunction that postponed that hearing.

Richardson says Ledford is a hero, who served his country as a military sniper and was awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze Star along with other commendations.  He says Ledford shows classic signs of suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Related story:

06/13/2008  Policeman Arrested After A Search Of His Home