Alva Review-Courier -

A man called to report a suspicious vehicle driving on County Road 370 and Logan Road in Woods County. The time was 12:57 a.m. on Monday morning, April 29. The vehicle was going west on Logan Road toward the dead end where the man lives. He said he talked to the two occupants of the silver Jeep when they turned around, and the story they told didn’t make sense. The man decided to follow them in his vehicle and called Woods County Dispatch. He said the vehicle turned east on Highway 64 going toward Alva, and he went west to go to work.

Woods County Sheriff’s Deputy Brandon Nesseralla responded to the call and parked at Bradt’s Menagerie, waiting for the silver Jeep to drive toward him. He pulled out behind the Jeep traveling east toward Alva. He observed it had a temporary license plate but he could not read it because it was too dirty. He followed the Jeep until they entered Alva and initiated a traffic stop at Windy Ford.

Nesseralla told the driver he stopped him because he couldn’t read the dirty license plate and because a matching vehicle had been called in for driving around on county roads.

The driver, Kyle Hammond, provided his identification card and looked for his insurance information. Nesseralla ran the Kansas ID card through dispatch and found Hammond has a suspended license.

Nesseralla asked both occupants to step out of the vehicle. The passenger did not have his identification but said he was Cole Lombard and gave his date of birth. Dispatch reported Lombard had a warrant. Hammond said the vehicle wasn’t his, and they dropped off a third person earlier that night, leaving him walking around County Road 370.

While searching the vehicle, Nesseralla found burglary tools, cellphones, two pieces of copper, an open bottle of brandy, a can of beer, paraphernalia, a loaded 9mm Canik pistol, a bag of 9mm ammunition, 22 caliber ammunition and a Motorola walkie talkie. He also found a wallet with a Kansas driver’s license belonging to Bobby Cox.

Around 8:30 a.m. April 29, Nesseralla received information that someone had been dropped off at Ampride in Alva, possibly matching the description of Cox. At 8:33 a.m., Nesseralla stopped an individual walking in the OK Welcome Home Hotel parking lot. The man said he was Bobby Cox. He was placed in custody and searched. Nesseralla found a head bandana and a Motorola walkie talkie. Cox was taken to the Woods County Sheriff’s Office. On the way Cox said his friends left him in the middle of nowhere and they had his car.

In a post-Miranda interview, Hammond stated that he, Cox and Lombard came to Woods County to steal copper from oil wells.

On May 1, Cole Steven Lombard, 35, of Pratt, Kansas, and Bobby James Cox, 40, of Wichita, Kansas, were each charged with conspiracy, a felony. Lombard was also charged with possession of firearm after former felony conviction, a felony.

The conspiracy charge is punishable by imprisonment for up to 10 years, or a fine up to $5,000, or both. The firearm charged is punishable by imprisonment for one to 10 years.