Nephew, uncle arrested for burglarizing house on prison property

A nephew and his uncle are in jail after officers arrested them after, investigators said, they tried to burglarize a house on the Lawton Correctional Facility’s grounds Friday night.

Prison staff detained Dillano J. Beckwith and Leon Wendell Noel shortly after 10:15 p.m. after they were found at a home on the prison property, 8298 SE Flower Mound Road.

A corrections officer saw a black Jeep Compass drop one man, Beckwith, off down the road before continuing southbound and turning around on Southeast Tinney Road. Beckwith opened an unlocked door and went inside and looked through the building with a flashlight, the probable cause affidavit states. He was then seen running back and forth to the gravel driveway carrying items from inside and stacking them.

The Jeep was then seen backing into the drive and that’s when a corrections officer found Leon Wendell Noel behind the wheel.

Beckwith told investigators he’d been dropped off by his uncle, Noel, to pick up items from inside the home. He said the abandoned home contained items left from a previous job completed weeks prior, the affidavit states. He said Noel dropped him off because they knew the prison had surveillance and they didn’t want to be seen entering the building.

The men were arrested and investigators founds a glass pipe used for smoking methamphetamine in Beckwith’s boot, according to the affidavit. Five weedeaters and four buckets of paint were what Beckwith brought to the driveway.

A corrections officer told investigators he recognized Noel from an encounter a week prior after Noel’s vehicle, different than the Jeep, had broken down in front of the home and its trunk was open, the affidavit states.

On Tuesday, Beckwith and Noel made their initial appearances in Comanche County District Court.

Beckwith, 29, of Walters, was charged with felony counts of second-degree burglary and conspiracy to commit second-degree burglary and a misdemeanor count of possession of drug paraphernalia, records indicate. The conspiracy count is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

Noel, 50, of Walters, was charged with a felony count of conspiracy to commit second-degree burglary, records indicate. Due to four prior felony convictions, he faces up to 40 years in prison if convicted.

Noel has prior felony convictions: Comanche County, January 1993, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon; September 2010, larceny of merchandise from a retailer; and January 2012, knowingly receiving, concealing and/or withholding stolen property; and from Stephens County, December 2016, distribution of controlled dangerous substances, records indicate.

Beckwith is being held on $25,000 bond and Noel’s bond was set at $35,000. The men return to court at 3 p.m. Nov. 30 for their preliminary hearing conferences.