Five Arreseted In 4 County Burglary Ring

Saturday, July 7th 2007, 3:27 pm

By: News On 6

A burglary ring in Green Country is busted. Authorities arrested five people they believe might be responsible for as many as 1,000 burglaries. In just one Muskogee County home, police say they recovered $50,000 worth of stolen goods. The News On 6â€™s Chris Wright reports police have been looking for the members of this burglary ring for the past couple years, and believe they robbed hundreds of people in four different counties.

Police continued to pile up the stolen property last night in Warner, televisions, DVD players, Playstations, power tools, even a generator. Police say it is one the biggest busts they've ever seen.

"Brand new equipment still in the box, name brand, Lowes, Wal-Mart, things like that,â€ said Muskogee County Sheriff Charles Pearson. â€œWe're talking about three rooms that are full of stolen property."

Authorities say the property was stolen over the past two years in four different counties, Muskogee, McIntosh, Haskell and Pittsburg. Those sheriff's departments recently pooled their resources and formed a task force to deal with the problem.

Earlier in the week, police arrested 47-year-old Kim Krueger, as well as several other people. They say Krueger led them to the Warner home, which belongs to 75-year-old Richard Brewer. Police say Krueger and others had been selling the stolen property to Brewer.

"I said Richard, they're stealing the stuff, probably stealing the things, â€œsaid Brewerâ€™s ex-wife Rhonda Norton. â€œDon't buy nothing else off them."

Norton says at first, Brewer didn't realize that everything he was buying was stolen. The 75-year-old retired recently, after driving country star Merle Haggard's bus for 35 years. He has a legitimate business buying and reselling cars.

"He's retired from working for Merle, don't drive the bus no more, so he buys and sells cars to make ends meet, and he'll buy anything to make a dollar,â€ Norton said.

But police say none of the property, which filled two trailers, was bought legitimately. They say as they continue to learn more about the burglary ring, they expect more arrests to be made, and more property to be recovered.

Police say because this case involves so many counties, the OSBI and FBI will also help with the investigation.

Watch the video: Burglary Ring Busted