(The following story by John Walker appeared on The Duncan Banner website on March 10, 2009.)
DUNCAN, Okla. — A Comanche man was arrested Friday evening for allegedly stealing a piece of railroad rail approximately 40 feet in length.
Johnnie DeWayne Branch, 37, was stopped by Stephens County sheriff’s deputies after a report came in about a truck pulling a 16-foot trailer that was hauling what was initially thought to be an approximately 40-foot beam. More than 20 feet of the beam was hanging out the back of the trailer and dragging on the road, causing sparks.
After Branch was stopped by the deputies, they realized that the beam was actually steel rail from the railroad.
Bond for Branch was set Monday at $3,500 after his initial appearance in Stephens County District Court. His next appearance in court is April 14. He remained in jail Monday evening.
After the Stephens County commissioner meeting Monday morning, Sheriff Wayne McKinney asked Commissioner Dee Bowen to look at the roadway near Oklahoma Highway 53 on 42nd Street where the rail caused sparks to see whether there was any damage.
At about 3 p.m. Monday, Bowen said that the road didn’t have much damage to it.
“There’s barely a scratch,” Bowen said.
McKinney said the rail had a value of well over $5,000.
The case is still under investigation.
Union Pacific investigators are also investigating the case. Federal charges could possibly be pressed against Branch, McKinney said.
According to the affidavit prepared by Stephens County Sheriff’s Lt. Lawson Guthrie, the report came into the sheriff’s department at about 8:40 p.m. Deputies stopped the vehicle about 1.25 miles north of Dr Pepper Road on 42nd Street.
According to the affidavit, Branch told deputies he purchased the rail from a man in Addington. But Reserve Deputy Bobby Bowen said he tracked the drag marks left from the rail and they allegedly originated on County Road 186 about a quarter mile east of U.S. Highway 81 next to the railroad tracks.
According to the affidavit, Guthrie contacted a Union Pacific investigator who said that a lot of railroad property had been stolen in the area recently.
Union Pacific has been repairing and replacing the railroad track in Stephens County.