FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
June 10, 2015
CONTACT: Laramie Adams
CELL: 512-922-7328
Eastland, Texas – An Eastland County Man was arrested today after stealing numerous head of livestock, trailers, guns and miscellaneous ranching equipment from numerous victims in multiple central Texas counties.
Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association (TSCRA) Special Rangers Joe Roberts and H.D. “Howard” Brittain led the investigation. TSCRA Special Rangers Wayne Goodman, Marvin Wills and John Bradshaw assisted with the investigation.
According to Brittain, the suspect, Clinton James Easter, 47, of Eastland County, hauled some cattle to the Graham County Livestock Auction and a man who works for the auction unloaded the cattle. After getting off work, the man who unloaded the cattle went home and read the “TSCRA Theft and Law, Crime Watch” section of The Cattleman magazine. While reading the magazine he realized the cattle he unloaded at the auction earlier that day were the cattle that were reported as missing. The man called TSCRA market inspector Ronnie Ober, and it was confirmed that the cattle were stolen by Easter.
The TSCRA Special Rangers ran search warrants with the Texas Rangers, Texas Department of Public Safety Troopers, Eastland County Sheriff’s Department, Coleman County Sheriff’s Department, Comanche County Sherriff’s Department, Brown County Sheriff’s Department and the Cisco Police Department.
After running the warrants, Brittain was able to locate and arrest Easter. Law enforcement officers recovered numerous stolen cattle, trailers, guns and miscellaneous stolen property from Easter. The recovered stolen livestock and equipment totaled over $100,000 and more is expected to be retrieved.
The investigation revealed that Easter is responsible for numerous cattle and equipment thefts in multiple counties. The suspect was charged with two counts of theft of livestock and numerous other charges are expected to follow.
TSCRA would like to thank the following for their assistance with this investigation: Texas Rangers, Texas Department of Public Safety Troopers, Eastland County Sheriff’s Department, Coleman County Sheriff’s Department, Comanche County Sherriff’s Department, Brown County Sheriff’s Department and the Cisco Police Department.
“This case is a perfect example of citizens being vigilant about cattle theft and making local authorities aware so justice can prevail,” said Brittain. “It is always crucial for folks to report suspicious activity to their local law enforcement as soon as possible. I am also very proud of the teamwork we saw in this investigation between the TSCRA Special Rangers and the many law enforcement departments and agencies that helped break this case.”
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TSCRA has 30 special rangers stationed strategically throughout Texas and Oklahoma who have in-depth knowledge of the cattle industry and are trained in all facets of law enforcement. All are commissioned as Special Rangers by the Texas Department of Public Safety and/or the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.
TSCRA is a 138-year-old trade association and is the largest and oldest livestock organization based in Texas. TSCRA has more than 16,500 beef cattle operations, ranching families and businesses as members. These members represent approximately 50,000 individuals directly involved in ranching and beef production who manage 4 million head of cattle on 76 million acres of range and pasture land primarily in Texas and Oklahoma, but throughout the Southwest.