Harrison County TX ...

[H8Criminals]

Lufkin, Texas-AP -- A law enforcement officer in eastern Texas is accused of stealing debris from the shuttle "Columbia."

Federal prosecutors are charging Robert Hagan with theft of government property.

Hagan is a Harrison County constable.

Prosecutors say he's accused of taking a piece of tile and other debris while helping with the recovery efforts.

Court documents say he displayed some of the items to another officer when he returned home to Marshall, Texas.

So far, three people have been charged with theft of government property related to looting of shuttle debris.

The other two suspects were arrested last week.

Authorities say there are as many as 20 other investigations into possible shuttle debris theft.

[Pigskin]

Just to make sure everyone knows for sure, Lufkin is listed on the AP wire story because that is where the federal command center is. The debris was taken from Nacogdoches County where he had gone to volunteer his efforts at recovering the items. The Harrison Co. Sheriff approached him & asked if he had turned in all the debris he had found & he replied he had. The Sheriff asked if they could run a search warrant of his house & he agreed. The Sheriff then said they would need to also search his patrol car & he balked. They found it in the trunk of his car. They had been announcing for three days that there would be an amnesty period & received some 90 pieces from people, including a doctor from Houston who had driven up & found some on a small farm he has near here. They arrested two people at the very start to set examples, a woman from Henderson & a college student from Stephen F. Austin University. Both were released on recognizance bonds. They'll probably press this one since he is an elected law enforcement official & rightly so. He knew better.

We also got a man & his wife from our county who collected five pieces & took them home. We didn't charge them with the possession of the debris. While in their house they were asked if there was anything else illegal there. They showed officers where to find three stashes of marijuana & two stolen rifles in the house. So the debris was recovered AND they still went to jail.