Men jailed for hot items from heat and air businesses

A pair of Lawton men are in jail after investigators said they followed a trail of burglaries of heat and air businesses that led back to them.

Gary Edward Jackson Jr., 65, and Arthur Lee Hogan, 54, each made their initial appearances Tuesday in Comanche County District Court.

Jackson received three felony charges of second-degree burglary with each count being punishable by up to seven years in prison.

Hogan received felony charges of grand larceny and second-degree burglary and due to three prior felony convictions, he faces up to 21 years in prison if convicted of the burglary count.

Lawton Police Detective Christopher Adamson stated he was investigating the Nov. 21 theft of a trailer dolly and cart from Bill Miller and Noble Heating and Air, 205 SE D. The cart was worth $3,500 and the dolly, $60.

Hogan and Jackson matched the suspects caught on the security video, the probable cause affidavit states.

Jackson at first denied being the person in the video but after Adamson stated he knew it was him, he asked what kind of deal was being offered to confess. After being told there would be no deal due to dishonesty, Jackson confessed and said the items were in his shed at 1408 SW J, according to the detective. The cart and dolly were recovered following a search warrant execution and returned to the owner.

Detective Felix Santillan was investigating the Nov. 22 burglary of Cool It Heat and Air, 907 S. Railroad. Two suspects were caught on security video stealing loose copper lines and wires along with some coils, the affidavit states. The men, identified as Hogan and Jackson, were at a local scrap yard and had a full cart full of the items and were picked up by police.

During questioning, Hogan and Jackson confessed they’d broken into Cool It and stole the items, according to the affidavit.

Hogan has three prior felony convictions in Comanche County: July 1993, escape from the Department of Corrections; October 1998, second-degree burglary; and April 2015, aggravated assault and battery, records indicate.

The men, each held on $25,000 bond, return to court at 3 p.m. Jan. 6 for their preliminary hearing conferences.