TSCRA recovers stolen saddles in Oklahoma

FORT WORTH - Two dozen saddles, valued at approximately $19,000, have been recovered by the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association.

On May 23, TSCRA Special Ranger John Bradshaw, was contacted regarding the theft of 10 saddles out of Washington County, Okla.

Once the investigation began, it became clear that more than the original 10 saddles were involved. At last count, 31 saddles had been stolen and sold at horse sales and from the side of the road to people all over Texas, Oklahoma and even as far-off as Florida.

"These saddles were all over the place," Bradshaw says. "Like the one in Florida. I mean, good grief! The guy [who purchased those saddles] was on vacation and driving on the Indian Nation Turnpike and these kids with the saddles were set up at the gas station.

"The guy was visiting his son who lives in Oklahoma and was pulling a horse trailer. The kids thought, 'He's pulling a horse trailer, let's see if he's interested in buying some saddles.'

"So, they yelled at him to see if he wanted to look at some saddles. And he said, 'Yeah, I'll look at them.'

So he comes over and looks at them. And they say, "You can have any two out of the bunch for $250." So the guy picks the best two saddles and pays part check, part cash. And that's [the record from the check] how we tracked him down," he says.

Since the stolen property was so spread out - across state lines, even - it took cooperation from other TSCRA Special Rangers to recover such a large number of the saddles.

Cummings not only recovered two of the saddles, but also communicated back and forth with Bradshaw to keep him informed of what was going on related to the case in Oklahoma.

TSCRA Special Rangers Jimmy Belt, who serves District 23 in Southeast Texas, and Doug Hutchison, of South Central Texas' District 20, also recovered saddles.

The suspects, 18-year-old John Allen Davis, and 17-yearold Elijah Sims, have been arrested and have confessed to the crimes.