FBI Probe In LeFlore County Centers On Suspicious Fires

POTEAU, Okla. (AP) _ Suspicious fires involving LeFlore County Commissioner Carroll Rogers have led to a criminal investigation, according to a probable cause affidavit. <br/><br/>The FBI, the Oklahoma

Wednesday, September 20th 2006, 11:55 am

By: News On 6

POTEAU, Okla. (AP) _ Suspicious fires involving LeFlore County Commissioner Carroll Rogers have led to a criminal investigation, according to a probable cause affidavit.

The FBI, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation and the state fire marshal's office, searched his home in Spiro on Sept. 14 after obtaining a federal search warrant the previous day.

A probable cause affidavit filed by FBI Special Agent James Dawson mentions four suspicious fires, the Times Record of Fort Smith, Ark., reported Wednesday. Rogers declined comment. He has not been charged with any crime.

The first fire was reported at Rogers' home in Spiro on May 6, 2003, while it was under renovation. On July 22, 2004, the home of Rogers stepdaughter in Spiro burned to the ground. A home Rogers sold to one of his employees caught fire on March 1, 2005. A Dec. 28, 2005, grass fire destroyed a dilapidated trailer and vacant home next to Rogers home in Spiro.

Dawson also wrote that Rogers claimed hail damaged on his roof in 2002 and in 2006.

Insurance companies paid Rogers or others nearly $142,000 in claims from the fires and the hail strikes.