Three Arrested During Foiled Burglary Attempt In Canadian County

Canadian County Sheriff's deputies bust three men in connection with an alleged burglary and copper theft.

It happened Saturday, November 30, at approximately 8 p.m. when deputies were checking out a report of suspicious activity at an AT&T communication facility located near N.W. 10th Street and Banner Road. The caller said he saw three men at this location and told them he was going to call police.

Deputies arrested Darrel Quirk, 29 of McLoud; Nicholas Taylor, 23 of Oklahoma City and Brandon Heintzelman, 27 of Midwest City after stopping them along I-40. Deputies say the three had illegally entered the property by cutting the chain link fence.

Deputies believe the three were disrupted by the citizen when they were about to load several spools of copper wire onto a trailer attached to the rear of the vehicle they were driving. Although the men denied they were going to load the spools up, they did state they wanted to get as much wire as possible.

"My deputies obtained a confession that the burglary had been planned by pre-cutting the fence so they could drive right in, load up and make a quick get-away," said Randall Edwards, Canadian County Sheriff. "Fortunately, their plan was spoiled by an alert citizen who was willing to get involved."

After the men left the AT&T facility they were seen throwing items from the vehicle along Interstate 40 sheriff's deputy was able to stop and retrieve the items which included small plastic baggies and broken crack pipes.

Deputies found marijuana hidden in the shoe of Taylor, and discovered an outstanding warrant on Quirk from Pottawatomie County for false impersonation of another person.

Quirk, Taylor and Hentzleman were all transported to the Canadian County Jail where they were booked in on various charges including burglary, breaking and entering to steal copper, possession of a controlled dangerous substance.