Trash truck driver accused of enticing teen, charged with escape attempt, illegal gun

A City of Lawton trash truck driver is in jail on $75,000 bond after police said he was accused of following a teen girl and then attempted to escape when taken into custody.

A convicted felon, he was also charged with having an illegal handgun.

Jeffrey Lynn Hurd, 26, of Lawton, made his initial appearance Tuesday in Comanche County Detention Center for felony charges of attempted escape from felony arrest and possession of a firearm after former felony conviction, records indicate. The firearm count is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

Lawton Police Sgt. A’Shawn Smith was called to Southeast 45th Street and Meiling Drive on Friday for a suspicious person driving a small City of Lawton trash truck. The Waste Management Division was called and his supervisor got Hurd to stop.

The girl who called about the suspicious person told police she was walking home from MacArthur High School when she made eye contact with Hurd. As she walked home, she said, the truck followed her before passing. He caught back up to her, revved his engine and called out to her and told her to get in the truck, she said, according to the probable cause affidavit. When she continued to ignore him, she said he called her an expletive, Smith stated.

Hurd told the officer he’d been doing his job when he saw the girl. He said she looked too young and denied turning down her street and of saying anything to her, the affidavit states.

Smith stated he put Hurd in cuffs to arrest him for enticing a minor and allowed him to speak with his supervisor. While escorting Hurd to the police unit, he took off running out of the neighborhood, into the woods and, eventually, into a creek before Smith took him into custody, according to the affidavit. While inventorying the trash truck, Smith recovered a bag containing a Glock handgun that had a loaded magazine and a red laser sight.

Hurd has a July 2021 felony conviction in Comanche County for a count of second-degree burglary, records indicate.

Hurd returns to court at 3 p.m. Oct. 29 for his preliminary hearing conference.