Law Enforcement Agencies Work Together In Stolen Property Investigation

The Haskell County Sheriff's Office, with the help of several other agencies, has recovered $50,000 in stolen property. That's on top of $60,000 worth of stolen stuff they discovered a week ago.

"Oklahoma has 77 sheriffs and all 77 sheriffs can pick up the phone at any time and call any one of them," said Sheriff Tim Turner, Haskell County.

Sheriff Tim Turner said you can hide stolen property, conceal it, you can even sell it, but you won't outsmart them.

All the stolen items are part of $110,000 worth of items recovered by several law enforcement agencies in Eastern Oklahoma. They teamed up to tackle the huge problem of thieves stealing whatever's not nailed down.

Related Story: Haskell County Deputies Find $60K Worth Of Stolen Items

"My guys know that just because our county ends doesn't mean the investigation stops," said Sheriff Adam Woodruff, Latimer County.

Sheriff Turner said teamwork has been the reason for all this success.

"Secrets kept are secrets that never get out, and when I say it's that in this business, we don't own a case," said Sheriff Tim Turner, Haskell County. "Our badge doesn't stop us. Our phones can call anywhere and there's not one sheriff in this state that is different from the other. We're all elected by our citizens and our main focus is to make sure that our citizens are safe."

The investigation first led deputies to a home in rural Pittsburg County last week where they found $60,000 worth of stolen items.

On Monday, deputies discovered an additional $50,000 in stolen property from Pittsburg, McIntosh, and Muskogee Counties, all dumped in the backside of a pasture in rural Haskell County.

"This stolen property was concealed pretty well. They had used a skid steer to clear out parking lanes basically so they could conceal stolen items and then cover it back up with brush," said Sheriff Turner. "It seems like we're becoming a hub of where they're bringing this property and you know, what I want them to know is we're gonna find it."

Sheriff Turner said Sheriff Woodruff of Latimer County has provided several leads.

They've worked to serve several search warrants and interviewed numerous people.

"Find you a job and quit stealing from the people out here working every day to protect their property," said Sheriff Turner. "Wherever you are, we're coming after you. And we're going to find you and put you in jail. I mean we've got 0 tolerance for thieves."

The first arrest came a week ago in Sequoyah County.

"There's no honor among thieves. Thieves have to be lucky all the time. Law enforcement, we're lucky one time and we gotcha," said Sheriff Adam Woodruff.

Deputies arrested a second suspect on Monday.

"The case is never really closed until we get a conviction, and we get all the property back," said Sheriff Adam Woodruff.

Sheriff Turner believes two different groups of criminals are responsible for the stolen items.

"One may know how to get rid of this piece of property and the other may know how to get rid of that, so you know they sell it for percentages on the dollar and basically split their elicit gain with each other," said Sheriff Turner.

They expect to make another five or six arrests and find more stolen property.

Sheriff Turner said one of the extra hurdles is the federal ruling on tribal jurisdiction and said some of the suspects and persons of interest are tribal citizens. He added that many of them are convicted felons.