By Mitchell Willetts
The Herald (Rock Hill, S.C.)
MCCLAIN COUNTY, Okla. — An Oklahoma deputy and his family were asleep inside their home when a man set the house on fire, destroying it, officials say.
Investigators say Austin Garrett Reeves had been caught burglarizing the house and was arrested, but returned the next day, Saturday, Aug. 23 , and started the fire, the McClain County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.
The deputy awoke to a neighbor pounding on a door of his Washington home, and he and his family escaped the fire unharmed, Sheriff Landy Offolter told KOCO.
Offolter says Reeves doused the deputy’s vehicles with gasoline, lit the fuel, and the fire spread to the house, the station reported, adding that the vehicles and home were destroyed.
Reeves was arrested later Saturday in the nearby city of Norman after a “brief standoff” with SWAT officers, the sheriff’s office said.
Reeves “appears to have been targeting law enforcement vehicles & homes to burglarize” when he was first arrested, the sheriff’s office said. It’s unclear what motivated him to come back, according to investigators.
“At the McClain County Sheriff’s (Office) we often tell each other to get home safe … what we never expect is not being safe at home, especially in a community like ours,” the sheriff’s office said. “We, like a lot of people in our community, have unanswered questions about why such a dangerous person wasn’t behind bars.”
The day before the fire, Reeves is accused of breaking into the deputy’s vehicle and stealing a handgun, KWTV reported. He was arrested and turned over to the Chickasaw Lighthorse Police .
Reeves is of Native American descent, the sheriff’s office said. The office is holding Chickasaw Nation authorities responsible for the fire, saying authorities let Reeves go, despite his dangerous behavior.
“While it is still not clear why the Chickasaw Nation Prosecutors Office released this proven dangerous and violent thug back to the streets to be able to terrorize and attempt to kill a Deputy and his family, our Agency is committed to leaving no stone unturned on our path to the truth,” the sheriff’s office said.
McClatchy News reached out to Chickasaw Nation authorities for comment Aug. 24 , but didn’t immediately receive a response.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms is assisting with the investigation, as is the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Oklahoma , KWTV reported.
Washington is a roughly 30-mile drive south from Oklahoma City.
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