Lawton Police: Pepper spray incident leads to stolen credit and debit cards

A Lawton man is behind bars after police said he robbed some acquaintances with the assistance of pepper spray.

Benny Earl Burrell, 36, of Lawton, made his initial appearance Wednesday in Comanche County District Court where he received three felony counts of possession of a stolen credit/debit card, records indicate.

Lawton police responded shortly after 3:30 a.m. Monday to a room at the Executive Inn, 3134 Cache Road, to a reported physical disturbance and arrived to find two men who claimed they’d brought Burrell and another man to the room. While there, the witness said, Burrell and the other man became suspicious and began whispering to each other, the probable cause affidavit states. When asked to leave, he said, Burrell told the other man pulled a can of pepper spray out and unloaded it, police said.

One man ran to the bathroom while spraying Burrell and the alleged partner and the man left behind was sprayed in the face. Burrell and the other man took a backpack containing jewelry and debit cards and fled the room, the affidavit states.

Arriving officers smelled the heavy pepper spray inside the room. The room was in disarray and items were strewn about, according to the affidavit.

Burrell was found by police around the south side of the building. He said he’d gone to the room to sell the men some drugs and that they’d become upset when he didn’t have any pills, the affidavit states. While being searched by police, 11 debits cards, all with different names on them, were recovered, investigators said. Several of the cards had been reported stolen in previous robberies and a burglary.

Burrell has a prior Comanche County conviction from April 2011 for a count of kidnapping, records indicate.

Held on $10,000 bond, Burrell returns to court at 3 p.m. Jan. 2, 2024, for his preliminary hearing conference.