Samuel Wayne Bell Jr. arrested after an investigation led by Texas & Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association Special Rangers.
FORT WORTH, Texas (April 24, 2025) — Samuel Wayne Bell Jr. of Cherokee County was indicted for second-degree felony theft of livestock following an investigation by Texas & Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association Special Rangers Darrel Bobbitt and Larry Hand.
In August 2024, Special Ranger Bobbitt received a report from a victim about a stolen mare and filly in Rusk County. He initiated an investigation, and was soon joined by Special Ranger Hand, with their efforts spanning Rusk, Cherokee and Comal counties.
Through interviews with multiple witnesses, the Special Rangers discovered Bell sold the stolen horses to a horse trader in Rusk County. The trader then advertised the animals on a social media site and sold them to a horse rescue group. Within hours of the theft, the horses changed hands twice, and would soon be transported by a third-party company more than five hours away to Comal County.
The case was submitted to the Rusk County Criminal District Attorney’s Office and presented to a grand jury, which returned an indictment against Bell for theft of livestock, enhanced to a second-degree felony. Bell surrendered to the Rusk County Sheriff’s Office March 31, where he was booked and arraigned before being released on bond the same day.
The horses have been returned to their rightful owner.
Texas & Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association thanks the Cherokee County and Rusk County Sheriff’s Offices, as well as the Rusk County Criminal District Attorney’s Office, for their assistance in the investigation.
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