Rustled cattle leads to charges for Caddo County man

ANADARKO — A Caddo County man is free on $5,000 bond for allegation he rustled five cows and a calf from a neighbor and sold them at a livestock auction.

Joshua Milton Bybee, 31, of Apache, made his initial appearance May 4 in Caddo County District Court where he received five felony charges of larceny of domestic animal/implements of animal husbandry, records indicate.

Bybee was arrested earlier that day following an investigation by the Agriculture Investigative Services Unit at the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry.

Bybee is accused of stealing the five cows and a calf from his neighbor in February. Investigators said he sold the livestock under his mother’s name at a nearby livestock auction. The livestock was valued at approximately $5,000, according to Oklahoma Ag Special Agent Devin Huckabay.

“The sale barn helped us determine that two of the stolen animals, a cow and the calf, were sold to a resident just south of Apache,” he said. “We were able to take a DNA sample of the calf, which was a perfect match to an older bull on the neighbor’s property where the livestock were originally stolen.”

Bybee told Huckabay he had driven onto his neighbor’s property, loaded the six animals, then took them to sell at the nearby livestock auction, according to Huckabay. Bybee said he sold the livestock under his mother’s name.

“I’d like to thank Special Agents Paul Cornett and Michael Vaught for assisting with this investigation,” Huckabay said.

Free on $5,000 bond, Bybee returns to court at 9 a.m. June 29 for his preliminary hearing conference, court records indicate.