By Josh Newton
Tahlequah Daily Press
CHEROKEE COUNTY, Okla. — 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.
“He was asked by the news crew why he stole the fire trucks and he stated, ‘Why else would you steal a fire truck? To fight fires,’” Brown said.
Two people purportedly identified Taylor as one suspect seen in the surveillance footage that was captured at the Leach fire station.
During interviews with sheriff’s investigators, Taylor allegedly denied being involved in the theft of the fire trucks, which were both found in a heavily wooded area near Oaks Road last Friday.
Brown said Taylor later appeared in a Cherokee County courtroom and was asked about his appearance on a Tulsa TV station.
“Mr. Taylor stated he was just along for the ride and, ‘Why else would you steal a fire truck? To fight fires,’” Brown said.
Brown is asking prosecutors to charge Taylor with second-degree burglary, knowingly concealing stolen property, two counts of possession of a stolen vehicle, injuring a public building, possession of burglary tools, and grand larceny at night time.
Both trucks were damaged after the thefts, according to investigators. Brown said the suspects apparently drove the trucks over trees and eventually were unable to travel farther. It took hours to remove the vehicles, and a new road had to be built to provide access.
Taylor had not been formally charged as of Wednesday afternoon and authorities have not released the name of their second suspect.
Brown said the investigation is ongoing. Investigators collected several DNA samples where the trucks were dumped and are having those analyzed.
Anyone with information about the fire truck thefts in Leach or Oaks is asked to call sheriff’s investigators at 918-456-2583.
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