An Oklahoma Man Gets Arrested for Texas Grand Theft Cattle

Today, the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association (TSCRA) said that on Friday, Special Ranger Harold Dempsey and Dean Bohannon arrested a Guymon, Oklahoma man after they caught him in the act of stealing from a Dalhart, Texas livestock auction. Dempsey led the investigation and Bohannon assisted.

Dempsey said that he was contacted by the TSCRA Market Inspector Anita Prizilas concerning the suspected theft of two head of cattle from the Cattlemen’s Livestock Commission in Dalhart, Texas. Prizilas told Dempsey, the owner of the sale barn had been coming up short on head counts.

The investigation revealed the suspect as Dannie Talcott, 63, of Guymon Oklahoma. According to a press release, he had been purchasing cattle over the internet from the Cattlemen’s Livestock Commission and shipping them to Preferred Beef, a packing plant in Booker, Texas. When Talcott would go pick up the cattle he bought from the Dalhart based livestock auction, he would load more cattle than he paid for.

Talcott was transported to the Dallam-Hartley County Jail where he admitted to stealing the cattle. He also confessed to committing the same crime on four different occasions. Talcott was charged with the theft of livestock, and the other four cases will be presented to the Dallam-Hartley County District Attorney.

“Through the teamwork of the sale barn owners, local law enforcement officials, TSCRA market inspectors and special rangers, we were able to catch this suspect in the act of stealing cattle,” said Dempsey. “I encourage anyone with cattle to keep a close watch over their herds and report any suspicious activity to local law enforcement as soon as possible.”

TSCRA would like to thank Hartley County Sheriff Franky Scott and Chief Deputy Tim Bell for their assistance in this case.

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 139-year-old trade association and is the largest and oldest livestock organization based in Texas. TSCRA has more than 17,000 beef cattle operations, ranching families and businesses as members. These members represent approximately 50,000 individuals directly involved in ranching and beef production that manage 4 million head of cattle on 76 million acres of range and pasture land primarily in Texas and Oklahoma, but throughout the Southwest.