Surveillance works pays off for Tulsa Police

A week's worth of surveillance pays off for Tulsa Police. <br/><br/>Detectives say the man they have in custody is a suspect in at least 18 robberies dating back to last December. A special task

Monday, November 22nd 2004, 10:29 am

By: News On 6

A week's worth of surveillance pays off for Tulsa Police.

Detectives say the man they have in custody is a suspect in at least 18 robberies dating back to last December. A special task force arrested Ramsey Hogan Sunday night just moments before they believe he was going to hold up an auto parts store. He even had a Halloween mask, gloves and a gun on him.

News on 6 crime reporter Lori Fullbright says the task force has been following Hogan every night for the past week. They followed him to the grocery store, to a known drug house and even watched him case a business. Their goal was to grab him right before his next robbery and that's what happened.

The task force officers figured something was going to happen when Hogan approached an O'Reilly automotive store Sunday evening around closing time. That's because they believe he also robbed an O'Reilly store last Sunday. They say he got spooked by an employee going out for smoke break and darted into the neighborhood behind the store and that's when he saw the officers in unmarked cars that had been secretly following him and the chase was on through backyards and over fences.

One officer shouted that Hogan pointed a gun at him. Another officer fired two shots when Hogan pulled something from behind his back. Police are just glad he's finally in custody.

They suspect Hogan in the recent O'Reillys robberies as well as some at Radio Shack, Quiznos and Subway stores as well as a yogurt shop and coffee shop.

Hogan is no stranger to trouble with the law. He has convictions for stolen property, forgery and two counts of armed robbery. He was just released from prison in February of 2003. He now faces federal gun and robbery charges.

Tulsa Police say armed robbers are dangerous because at any time, something could go bad and someone could die. The task force was made up of officers from Tulsa's robbery, vice, gangs and fugitives squads along with ATF and FBI agents and US Marshals. They had 25 or more people following Hogan on any given night in the past week.

There are more robbers still out there, like the team that's been hitting Walgreenâ€™s and Kum and Go stores. Tulsa Police say once they develop suspects in that case, they'll start following them, too.