Duncan, Oklahoma: Airport burglary under investigation

March 12, 2013

Megan Bristow,  The Duncan Banner

 
DUNCAN —   A plane at the Duncan Municipal Airport will not be taking off until repairs are done following a weekend burglary that devalued the plane of $200,000 in equipment.

Sometime between 6 p.m. Sunday and 4:15 a.m. Monday, burglars broke into several hangars at the Duncan Municipal Airport. Officer David Martin was the first to respond to the call, which came in about 4:29 p.m. While on scene, Martin spoke with the pilot Blake Thorne.

Thorne had found the door to Hangar 21 open with no sign of the lock. In his report, Martin said he looked into the plane and saw that the instrument panel, which contained the plane’s navigation system was missing. The plane belonged to Pete Hogstead.

“It is going to need $200,000 in repairs before it can fly again,” Duncan Police Department Detective Bill Fitzhugh said.

According to the DPD records, Hogstead also reported a brown box containing seven padlocks missing. The contents were valued at $70.

GPS units were also taken from planes owned by Lance Jones and Randolph Dressler III. Equipment stolen from Jones was valued at $1,500 while equipment taken from Dressler was valued at $250. Martin noted that the GPS was later located on the ground about 100 yards north of his hangar. Dressler also told Martin that his window and door had been damaged.

Additionally, a battery charger, valued at $50, was taken from plane owner Oscar Morales.

Officer Clifford English also responded to the scene. Fitzhugh is the detective assigned to the case.

He did not say if there are any suspects but said the case is under investigation.

Source:   http://duncanbanner.com