Burglary Suspect Calls Tulsa Police, Claims To Be Victim Of Assault

Tulsa County Deputies said a man called 911 saying he was the victim of an assault, but he turned out to be a burglary suspect.

Terry Buckner, the homeowner, said he went out to dinner and started getting pictures on his phone, showing a man trying to break in to Buckner’s house.

Buckner raced to the house and saw a man and woman still there.

"When I pulled up and got out, he came to confront me. He came up to me and I pushed him down,” says Buckner. “He fell on the ground. They were both screaming and yelling they weren't doing anything."

Buckner said Kevin Denney and the woman drove through Buckner’s yard to get away.

Buckner said this is his third break-in in the last three weeks and, last time, the thieves took the stove and flooded the house.

"You've got to fear they could have a gun, they could have a knife but, at that same time, how much is enough? When is it enough? when they keep taking and taking and taking, and breaking. We've got to stop it, so all we thought at that point was to get them out of here,” says Buckner.

Tulsa County Deputies said Denney called 911 saying he was looking at a rent house when he was assaulted.

Minutes later, Buckner called and said he had confronted a suspected burglar and that's when deputies realized Denney wasn't the victim: he was the suspect.    

“Typically you don't have criminals who actually call the police on themselves. or by themselves and initiate police contact. I guess in this case he thought he was smarter than everyone involved,” says Deputy Justin Green with the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office.

"It's just getting to the point where it's costing us so much money that we've got to get here and stop it before they do it. The goal was to stop them from breaking into the actual house,” says Buckner.

Records show Denney has spent time in prison for burglary.

He was released in April of 2019.