A fire in the Macomb area Monday morning led authorities to stolen truck in flames and an attached trailer, which prompted a manhunt and the arrest of a burglary suspect.
The suspect was arrested in connection with an Oklahoma City case where thousands of dollars in construction equipment was taken from a set of businesses Sunday.
Pottawatomie County Sheriff’s Capt. Travis Palmer said the Macomb Fire Department responded to an explosion in an area two miles west and north of SH 59B and SH 102 about 9:30 a.m. Monday.
When they arrived, the found a truck on fire in the woods with an attached 16-foot trailer with a Bobcat.
Palmer said fire crews extinguished the truck fire and saved the trailer and Bobcat.
Through investigation, crews learned the trailer and Bobcat were among the items stolen from Oklahoma City businesses Taylor Construction and Arrowhead Concrete. Thieves apparently stole trailers, two Bobcats, a concrete truck and other items Sunday.
It appeared the stolen truck found in Pottawatomie County was being driven deep into a wooded area to be hidden, Palmer said, and while proceeding over dry trees and brush, a fire ignited.
“We felt confident the suspect was still in the area,” Palmer said, so a perimeter was set up, with deputies and officers from other agencies responding.
Palmer, along with Reserve Deputy Mike Massey, were searching an area when they saw something in a farm pond.
“He came floating up in the middle of the pond,” Palmer said, adding the suspect later confessed his part in the burglary. Palmer said the man also had the key for the stolen truck in his pocket.
Palmer said that suspect, Clinton Dewayne Collins, 42, matched one of four suspects captured in the video of the Oklahoma City burglary. He was arrested on complaint of possession of stolen property and booked into the Pottawatomie County Public Safety Center, but was expected to be transferred to Oklahoma County.
The suspect was reported to be a past employee at the businesses, Palmer said. An Oklahoma City police detective responded to Pottawatomie County Monday as part of this case and the business owner also arrived to pick up his trailer and his Bobcat.
Palmer said homeowners in and around the wooded areas near Macomb were helping that business owner get his Bobcat and trailer out of the woods.
Along with deputies, McLoud police, Absentee Shawnee tribal offices and Air One from Oklahoma City assisted in Monday’s manhunt.
At least four suspects were in custody for questioning late Monday evening following a manhunt that was continuing in an area south of SH 9. Pottawatomie County Sheriff Mike Booth said a homeowner returned home Monday afternoon and saw an individual carrying property away from his residence. The homeowner drove toward that man and saw two people flee into the woods, the sheriff said, then noticed guns were missing from his home.
Deputies responded and set up a perimeter, Booth said, searching nearly three-fourths of a mile from that home. The area centered about one mile south of SH 9 between Gaddy and Bethel roads, the sheriff said. Deputies, along with assisting agencies, searched nearby homes, including one that appeared to have suspicious activity, Booth said. Three suspects were found hiding underneath that mobile home, he said, with two of them matching the description of the burglary suspects. About 9 p.m., those suspects were custody for questioning while deputies remained in the woods, he said, looking for evidence and to see if anyone else was hiding in the woods. Sheriff’s deputies were utilizing two of their search dogs, while tracking dogs from other agencies were on standby until needed because of the heat, he said. Assisting were Oklahoma County sheriff’s deputies and a K-9, along with McLoud Police, Seminole County deputies, Sac and Fox Nation and Citizen Potawatomi Nation Tribal police, along with the sheriff’s warrants team.
Despite the heat and no breeze the woods, law enforcement officers made quick work to contain the suspects, Booth said. The suspects allegedly parked a car nearby, Booth said, but they reportedly ran in the opposite direction of where that car was parked. “They’ve been scared and confused and that’s given us an advantage,” Booth said.
By late evening, all but one of the missing weapons had been accounted for, Booth said.
Pottawatomie County sheriff’s deputies are investigating two separate incidents that occurred about the same time late Tuesday night — a stabbing between two siblings and a mobile methamphetamine lab found in a pickup. Sheriff Mike Booth said the stabbing incident occurred in the Tribbey area. A brother and sister, who have homes about 50 feet apart on the same property, were involved in that altercation, he said.
Booth said Abraham Cossey, 45, went over to the home of his sister, Cheryl Bass, 54. From preliminary reports, Booth said the brother and the sister’s boyfriend initially had an altercation, but the situation turned in a mutual combat incident between the brother and sister, with both suffering stab wounds. Booth said Cossey suffered a severe wound between his shoulder blades and was taken by Medi Flight to OU Medical Center, where he was treated for his injuries and released. Bass went by REACT EMS to Unity Health Center, where she was also treated for stab wounds, then released, he said. The case remains under investigation and no arrests have been made.
While deputies were en route to this call in the Tribbey area, one deputy taking a shortcut route came upon a suspicious vehicle north of Rattlesnake Hill Road on Stevens Road, Booth said. When he pulled up to the vehicle, two males and one female took off running, Booth said. Deputy Jason Holasek, who had no backup at the time, took the woman into custody, Booth said, while the two men fled into the woods. Booth said a mobile methamphetamine lab was found in the back of the pickup, so the District Attorney’s drug task force was called to the scene for clean up. A manhunt began for the two men in the woods, Booth said, with McLoud police assisting with a search dog. Neither were found, he said.
Both cases remain under investigation.
The Shawnee Police Department and Pottawatomie County Sheriff’s Office have jointly applied for an Edward Byrnes Memorial Justice Assistance Grant.
If awarded, the two will share the $25,277 grant, with SPD receiving $12,489.85 and the sheriff’s office getting $12,787.15.
SPD has requested funding for 13 new taser weapons and cartridges, while the sheriff’s office seeks funding for a newer patrol vehicle.
In the past, grants such as this have provided items such as search and rescue equipment for police boats at the Shawnee Twin Lakes; investigative equipment for the Sheriff’s Office; tactical equipment the agencies share; rifles, pistols, radars, road spikes and electronic ticket devices.
