Sallisaw Police Chief Gary Philpot said Kansas City Southern Railroad reported on July 15 that several of their semi trailers had been broken into at the railroad piggyback service located at Port Arthur Place and Cedar Street and several cases of liquor were stolen from those trailers.
Philpot said on Friday he received a tip on the whereabouts of some of the liquor, and Detectives Jeff Murray and John Owens began conducting interviews.
A large quantity of stolen liquor was recovered and as a result, Charles Woody, Kenneth Osburn, and Jason Linebarger, all of Sallisaw, were arrested, Philpot said. Officer Justin Smithson and Officer Wendel Hughes assisted the detectives in recovering the stolen liquor.
Woody, 28, and Osburn, 19, were booked into the city jail on four counts of second-degree burglary and knowingly concealing stolen property. Linebarger, 29, was booked on a charge of knowingly concealing stolen property.
In a letter to Philpot, Special Agent Paul Tappana with the Kansas City Southern Railway thanked the officers and department for help in recovering the liquor.
Tappana said as a railroad police officer, he covers 800 miles of territory, which makes it difficult for him to respond immediately to locations where problems occur. He said that he made it to Sallisaw on July 21 and began surveillance in the hopes of being able to take someone into custody for breaking into the trailers.
Tappana said while conducting his surveillance, he noticed patrol officers making several trips through the railyard, spotlighting the trailers and containers with their spotlights.
"I believe that the high visibility of your police officers and their teamwork in making extra rounds in the yard was a substantial factor in virtually making the trailer break-ins non-existent and keeping the problems in the yard at bay," Tappana said.
"I appreciate the work that your dispatchers, patrol officers, detectives, and records department have done for the Kansas City Southern Railway."
