Hopkins County Sheriff’s Investigator Dennis Findley and Texas State Cattle Raisers’ Special Ranger Toney Hurley arrested two local men for the theft of 12 head of cattle and selling them in Oklahoma.
Lane Wesley Keller
Landon Dee Harness, 22, of Sulphur Springs and Lane Wesley Keller, 21 were arrested for Theft of Cattle, less than $150,000. The pair had secretly fed the cattle for a period of time and were able to load them into trailers using the feed.
Landon Harness
Hopkins County Sheriff Lewis Tatum stated that at the first of October a report was made on cattle stolen in the northern part of Hopkins County. Tatum stated that Investigator Findley and Special Ranger Hurley tracked the pair using video from cameras in the area of the theft and were able to trace the sale records in Oklahoma. Tatum stated that attempts to recover the cattle are underway but with the cattle having been sold in Oklahoma there may be a few issues to overcome.
Findley’s use of video was a major source for solving this theft. Tatum stated that one would not think about video surveillance in the remote areas of the county but well placed cameras with quality definition enabled local officers to identify vehicles and individuals as well. The Sheriff said video surveillance is not just used for hunting purposes but also to protect property.
Tatum said there are cattle thefts in the northern part of the county that have not been solved at this time but he hopes this will assist in solving those. The pair have been arrested for theft in the past according to their jail records.
