Investigators are asking Cherokee County prosecutors to formally charge a local man who was questioned in the theft of two volunteer fire department trucks last week. Derrick Lee Taylor, 30, is free on bond after his arrest Dec. 23 in the Oaks area. Taylor was initially jailed for outstanding warrants.
According to authorities, two men broke into the Leach fire station in the early morning hours and stole a fire truck. Not long after, that truck was purportedly used to break into an Oaks fire station, where a second truck was taken.
Surveillance footage from the Leach station showed the two suspects getting in, where it took them less than two minutes to get away in the first fire truck.
Cherokee County Sheriff's Investigator James Brown said two suspects were identified after the thefts. As authorities were en route to one suspect's home, a pilot with the Oklahoma Highway Patrol spotted Taylor leaving in a car similar to a one identified during the investigation.
Troopers stopped Taylor and he was ultimately arrested for outstanding warrants.
According to Brown, deputies arrived to transport Taylor to jail, which happened to take place in the presence of a TV news crew.