FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

TSCRA IDs day worker in multiple cattle thefts

FORT WORTH, Texas, Nov. 17, 2005―A day worker who moonlighted stealing cattle from his employers in Chambers and Jefferson counties has been arrested and formally charged based on information gathered by Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association inspectors.
            Reginald Bernard Kirksey of Winnie, Texas, was arrested on Nov. 16 and charged with multiple counts of felony theft of livestock. He is currently in the Chambers County jail in lieu of $45,000 bond on all counts.
            TSCRA Field Inspector Larry Hryhorchuk, who spearheaded the investigation, said the suspect has cleared up the whereabouts of about 50 head of cattle, ‘but that doesn’t begin to cover it. This is an ongoing investigation, with multiple victims, involving more than 100 head of cattle.”
            Hryhorchuk is one of 29 TSCRA livestock theft investigators stationed strategically throughout Texas and Oklahoma. These commissioned officers combine thorough training in all facets of law enforcement with a comprehensive knowledge of the cattle industry. In 2004 they recovered or accounted for more than $4 million in stolen livestock and equipment.
            A tip from a savvy TSCRA market inspector started Hryhorchuk gathering information before any of the thefts had been reported.
            “Lucian Fussell, the TSCRA market inspector over at Kirbyville, notified me that there was a guy over there selling cattle coming from this part of the country. He couldn’t figure out why they were going to Kirbyville instead of Raywood. It was unusual, so we started checking.”
            TSCRA’s 77 market inspectors are the first line of defense against livestock theft. They monitor 116 cattle auctions in Texas, meticulously recording identifying characteristics such as brands, sex, color, tags, horns and ear marks. They also document the seller’s name, address and vehicle license number.
            The information is sent to TSCRA headquarters where it is entered into a computer brand recording and retrieval system. Using information from this  system, Hryhorchuk began building a profile of the individual selling cattle at Kirbyville. When he finally got a complaint about missing cattle, the information fit!
            “I got hold of the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department and we went to work on it. We had enough information to arrest and charge him,” said Hryhorchuk. “Where he was checking cattle in, how many and where. The arrest was made by the Chambers County Sheriff’’s Department yesterday.”
            Assisting officers were Investigator David Robalais from Chambers County and Charles Meloncon from Jefferson County.
            Hryhorchuk said the suspect had been day working for every one of the ranchers he stole cattle from. 
            “He knew where the cattle were. He’d get them into a pen with range cubes, close ’em up and come back later and load ’em and haul ’em―one to 15 head at a time. A lot of the owners didn’t even know they were gone.”

            Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association is a 128-year-old trade organization whose13,000-plus members manage approximately 5.4 million cattle on 70.3 million acres of range and pasture land, primarily in Texas and Oklahoma.