Accused bicycle bandit jailed for burglary, obstruction

Police said a man tried to give false information when stopped for being suspected of wahooing a bicycle from City of Lawton property.

Phillip Ray Akerman, 31, made his initial appearance Monday in Comanche County District Court where he received a felony charge of second-degree burglary and a misdemeanor count of obstructing police, records indicate. The felony is punishable by up to seven years in prison.

Surveillance video showed a man use tools to force open a locked gate shortly before 7 a.m. May 5 at the City-owned property at 303 SE Larrance. Once inside, the man removed several bicycles and bicycle parts before riding away on one of the bikes, the probable cause affidavit states. A man matching the suspect’s description was stopped while walking east on Gore Boulevard, crossing Interstate 44.

Lt. Thomas Bailey asked the man for identification and he said he didn’t have any. He did, however, identify himself as Phillip Ray Akerman but with a different spelling. It was learned he had an outstanding warrant for failure to register as a sex offender; he has a July 2014 conviction in Garvin County for a count of first-degree rape, records indicate.

When asked if he offered false information, Akerman nodded his head yes, the affidavit states.

Held on $10,000 bond, Akerman returns to court at 3 p.m. Aug. 15 for his preliminary hearing conference, records indicate.